ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION  OF 
TRANSPORTATION 

OR    THE 

GENESIS  OF  RAILWAY  CARRIAGE 


THIS    VOLUME    CONTAINS    AN    ACCOUNT    OF    THE    BEGINNING   AND 
GROWTH  OF  TRANSPORTATION,  EMBELLISHED  WITH  ENGRAV- 
INGS PORTRAYING  THE  ABORIGINAL  PEOPLE  OF  THfc 
WORLD  AND  THEIR  METHODS  OF  CARRIAGE  IN 
EVERY  AGE  AND  QUARTER  OF  THE  GLOBE. 


BY        ^^ 

MARSHALL  MffclRKMAN,   \&^SL~Vn  ^' 


VOLUME  XI. 
OF  "THE  SCIENCE  OF  RAILWAYS"  SERIES. 


NEW  YORK  AND  CHICAGO: 
THE  WORLD  RAILWAY  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

1902. 


COPYRIGHT  BT 

THE  WORLD  RAILWAY  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

1834,  1895,  1896,  1898,  1899, 1900,  1902. 

.Also  entered  at  Stationer's  Hall,  .London,  England 

Alt  rights  reserved. 


REGAN  PRINTING  HOUSE.  CHICAGO. 


CHAMPION  ACCESSION 
M*C«OFT  LJBRAAY 


BEGINNING  AND  GEOWTH  OF  TRANS- 
PORTATION. 

Carriage  is  a  part  of  man.  In  order  to  live  he 
must  transport  what  he  eats,  the  clothes  he 
wears,  the  fuel  he  uses.  He  is  himself,  moreover, 
of  a  roving,  nomadic  disposition.  The  subject  is 
thus  inseparable  from  him.  In  depicting  the 
evolution  of  carriage,  therefore,  we  portray  man's 
development. 

The  accompanying  volume  portrays  the  incep- 
tion and  growth  of  transportation  and  the  varied 
processes  by  which  we  have  reached  our  present 
standard.  It  depicts  the  result  of  man's  inge- 
nuity, his  growth  and  unconquerable  resolve,  the 
steps  —  always  ascending  —  by  which  he  reached 
his  present  civilized  station.  The  subject  has 
also  a  mechanical  interest  in  this,  that  to  prop- 
erly appreciate  the  methods  of  carriage  now  in 
vogue  we  must  be  familiar  with  the  appliances 
which  preceded  them.  In  portraying  primitive 
forms  of  carriage,  I  have  found  it  necessary  to 
give  a  brief  account  of  the  primitive  people  of 
the  world  and  more  particularly  those  of  ancient 
times,  among  others,  the  Aryans,  Chaldeans, 
Babylonians,  Phoenicians,  Egyptians,  Grecians 

and  Carthaginians,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for 

(in) 


iv  BEGINNING  AND  GROWTH. 

many  of  the  methods  we  employ  to-day.  The 
subject  is  one  of  intense  interest  to  mankind. 
The  Ancients  were,  like  ourselves,  commercially 
inclined,  and  while  their  appliances  were  rude, 
and  their  means  of  inter-communication  and 
trade  limited,  their  business  methods  and  forms 
of  carriage  contained  the  germs  of  those  now  in 
use.  An  "account  of  these  interesting  people, 
therefore,  forms  a  fit  accompaniment  to  our 
theme.  The  evolution  of  carriage,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  notice,  is  so  interwoven  with  the  affairs  of 
men  that  we  are  compelled  to  follow  the  latter 
step  by  step  from  their  savage  state  in  order  to 
understand  the  subject  throughout.  This  duality 
of  interest  first  suggested  the  account  of  primi- 
tive men  found  in  the  accompanying  volume..  In 
the  first  six  editions  of  the  "Science  of  Kailways" 
the  engravings  portraying  Primitive  Carriage, 
together  with  more  or  less  of  the  printed  matter 
relating  to  aboriginal  peoples  were  scattered 
throughout  the  different  volumes.  Subsequently 
I  selected  such  pictures  as  aptly  illustrated  the 
subject,  and  embraced  them  with  an  account  of 
primitive  people,  in  this  volume.  It  thus  forms 
a  fit  supplement  to  the  general  theme,  or  may 
be  considered  apart  and  independently,  as  an 
exposition  complete  in  itself,  of  the  varied  pro- 
cesses leading  up  to  the  railroad  era. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

BEGINNING  AND  GBOWTH  OF  TRANSPORTATION,  .  .  .  .  iii 
CHAPTER  I.  Prehistoric  Carriers  and  Attendant  Evolution 

of  Man, 9 

CHAPTER  II.  Primitive  man.  The  first  carrier.  How  far 
carriage  was  perfected  among  the  Aryans  during  the 
Palaeolithic  period, 47 

CHAPTER  III.  Carriage  among  the  Chaldeans,  the  most 
primitive  of  peoples.  Their  strange  beliefs  and 
customs, 75 

CHAPTER  IV.  Primitive  carriage  in  semi  -  barbarous 
Greece.  The  first  common  carrier, 83 

CHAPTER  V.  Primitive  carriage  among  the  Egyptians  and 
other  ancient  peoples, 95 

CHAPTER  VI.  Transportation  forms  among  the  Phoeni- 
cians,   117 

CHAPTER  VII.     The   Carthaginians  as  primitive  carriers. 

The  basis  of  good  government, 137 

CHAPTER  VIII.  Primitive  carriage  in  the  past  and  present 
compared, 149 

INDIA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  157 
JAPAN,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  188 
AFRICA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  219 
ALGERIA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  231 

BURMAH  AND  SIAM,  th  3ir  primitive  associations  and  means 
of  carriage, 237 

(v) 


Vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

CHINA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  254 
ABABIA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  273 
EGYPT,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  283 
iCoBEA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  293 
MALAYSIA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  306 

TUEKEY  AND   ABMENIA,  their  primitive  associations  and 
means  of  Carriage,      .     .     .     • 316 

AFGHANISTAN,   its   primitive   associations    and    means   of 
carriage, 328 

TUNIS  AND  MOBOCCO,  their   primitive   associations   and 
means  of  carriage, 334 

PEBSIA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,    .  342 

AUSTBALASIA,    its    primitive   associations    and    means   of 
carriage, 347 

CEYLON,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  353 

MADAGASCAB,    its    primitive   associations   and   means   of. 
carriage, 359 

CENTBAL  ASIA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of 
carriage,       :     .     .     .  362 

ISLANDS,  miscellaneous,  their  primitive  associations  and 
means  of  carriage, 366 

UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA,  their  primitive  associations 
and  means  of  carriage, 379 

MEXICO  AND  CENTBAL  AMEBICA,  their  primitive  associa- 
tions and  means  of  carriage, 404 

I/     SOUTH  AMEBICA,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of 

carriage, 418 

ITALY,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,     .  429 

AUSTBIA-HUNGABY,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of 
carriage, 437 


CONTENTS.  Vii 

PAGE. 

BRITISH  ISLES,  their  primitive  associations  and  means  of 
carriage, 441 

KUSSIA    AND    SIBERIA,   their    primitive   associations    and 
means  of  carriage, 448 

GERMANY,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  459 
FRANCE,  its  primitive  associations  and  means  of  carriage,  .  463 

^  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL,  their   primitive  associations  and 

means  of  carriage, 468 

EUROPE,   miscellaneous,    its    primitive    associations    and 
means  of  carriage, 477 

ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND  MYTHOLOGICAL   primitive  asso- 
ciations and  means  of  carriage, 489 

PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM  to  engines,  road  wagons 
^        and  locomotives, 510 

MOTOR  VEHICLE, 521 

CULMINATION  or  CARRIAGE, 523 

INDEX, 524 


CHAPTER  I. 

PREHISTORIC    CARRIERS  AND  ATTENDANT   EVOLUTION 
OF   MAN. 

Much  has  been  ascertained  in  regard  to  the 
history  of  property  and  its  relation  to  mankind; 
much  remains  to  be  learned.  We  know,  however, 
that  its  evolution  and  that  of  man  have  at  all 
times  gone  hand  in  hand.  Where  property  exists 
in  greatest  profusion,  where  it  is  most  widely  dif- 
fused and  carefully  protected,  there  civilization 
is  advanced  to  its  farthest  limits;  where  it  is  lit- 
tle known  or  lightly  held,  barbarism  exists;  where 
it  is  wholly  unknown,  savagery  reigns. 

Slaves  and  herds  make  up  the  wrealth  of  primi- 
tive peoples.  Among  savages  possession  falls  to 
the  strongest.  Incentive  to  accumulate  is,  there- 
fore, wanting;  men  will  not  create  where  they 
can  not  hold  and  enjoy. 

In  man's  primordial  state  he  differed  little  from 
the  other  animals  that  inhabited  the  earth.  His 
vocabulary  was  confined  to  gutterals.  He  used 
his  hands  little;  his  teeth  much.  His  intelligence 
was  rudimentary  only.  It  was  the  age  of  the 
brute.  Might  governed,  and  within  this  limit 
men  did  as  they  pleased.  Man's  development  has 
grown  out  of  the  special  facilities  he  enjoys.  The 
uses  to  which  he  is  able  to  put  his  hands  enabled 
him  to  make  weapons — offensive  and  defensive — 

(9) 


10  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

and  with  them  to  overcome  the  animals  before 
which  he  had  previously  cowered  in  abject  fear. 
This  was  his  first  step  and  led  the  way  to  all  his 
subsequent  belongings. 

A  Grecian  fable  tells  us  that  Phoroneus,  who  is 
thought  to  have  lived  about  1950  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  taught  men  to  live  together  and  observe 
peaceable  Delations  toward  each  other.  He  is 
said  also  to  have  instructed  them  in  the  use  of 
fire.  Osiris  is  said  to  have  performed  like  offices 
for  the  Egyptians;  Cannes,  the  fish  man,  for  the 
Chaldeans;  Fo  Hi,  for  the  Mongols.  Every  coun- 
try has  a  legendary  hero  of  this  kind — a  patron 
who  taught  men  to  live  together  in  hordes  in- 
stead of  apart,  like  the  lion  and  bear. 

The  evolution  of  man,  prior  to  the  first  glimpse 
we  have  of  him  (anterior  to  the  historic  periqd), 
occupied  countless  ages,  which  we  can  not  meas- 
ure nor  trace.  However,  its  processes  are  gener-, 
ally  alike  in  all  ages  and  countries.  But  all  tribes 
do  not  possess  equal  precipitancy  or  facility  of 
growth.  The  denizens  of  different  countries,  like 
domestic  animals,  do  not  have  equal  capacity  or 
initial  force.  Climatic  peculiarities  and  other 
local  influences,  clearly  discernible,  account  for 
these  differences.  The  habits  of  our  progenitors, 
the  Aryans,  were  not,  it  is  probable,  different  orig- 
inally from  those  of  the  Fuegans,  who  lie  together 
promiscuously  at  night  on  the  bare  ground,  naked 
and  unmated,  without  thought  of  the  morrow, 
gorging  themselves  to  repletion  on  the  festering 
carcasses  of  animals  thrown  by  chance  in  their 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  11 

way ;  or,  in  the  absence  of  such  food,  living  fru- 
gally on  the  berries  and  roots  of  the  field.  Where 
opportunity  has  been  afforded  for  observing  man 
in  his  savage  state,  it  is  found  that  centuries  come 
and  go  with  little  or  no  change,  showing  that  at 
this  stage  incalculable  ages  are  required  to  effect 
any  substantial  progress. 

All  men,  it  is  probable,  were  originally  canni- 
bals, eating  those  whom  they  captured,  and,  in 
the  absence  of  captives,  slaves  and  criminals — 
frequently  their  wives  and  children. 

Man's  idea  of  property  as  such  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  inherent,  or,  if  so,  it  found  no  ex- 
pression. He  was  at  first  without  forethought; 
at  least,  it  was  not  instinctive.  Many  animals 
were  more  provident  than  he.  When  he  roamed 
the  forests  without  shelter  or  thought  of  the  mor- 
row, the  lion  guarded  its  feeding  ground,  the  ant 
husbanded  its  stores,  the  bee  and  woodpecker  laid 
up  their  hoards  of  winter  supplies,  the  dog  hid 
the  bone  he  did  not  want.  Many  other  examples 
might  be  cited. 

Private  property  was  at  first  restricted  to  the 
weapons,  ornaments  and  clothing  of  individuals. 
It  was  acquired  by  war  or  was  the  work  of  its 
owner's  hands.  It  thus  appears  to  have  been 
based,  primarily,  on  personal  effort,  as  it  is  still. 
When  men  died  their  property  was  destroyed  or 
buried  with  them.  This  because  it  was  supposed 
to  be  alive  and  to  partake  of  the  individuality  of 
its  owner.  By  destroying  or  burying,  it  became 
available  for  use  in  the  future  state — for  the 


12  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

savage,  quite  as  much  as  the  Christian,  believes 
uniformly  in  life  beyond  the  grave.  But,  as  man 
progressed  in  ideas  and  thrift,  he  became  more 
circumspect;  he  no  longer  sacrificed  articles  of 
value  to  the  manes  of  the  dead.  In  lieu  thereof 
he  offered  up  symbols,  incantations  and  other  in- 
consequential and  valueless  things.  If  not  better, 
he  was  more  provident,  more  saving. 

In  man's  primordial  state,  the  members  of  the 
family  were  not  equal  nor  reciprocal  in  interest. 
Man's  proprietorship  in  his  wife  and  children  was 
absolute.  Indeed,  it  was  this  advantage  that  orig- 
inally suggested  marriage  to  him.  The  wife  was 
at  first  a  domestic  animal  merely,  but  the  most 
useful  that  man  possessed.  She  might  be  killed, 
sold,  traded,  rented,  lent,  cast  off,  or  eaten.  She 
was  merchandise  merely,  the  proprietorship. of 
which  vested  absolutely  in  the  husband.  She 
looked  to  him  for  protection.  Not  to  have  such  . 
a  protector  was  to  be  an  outcast — an-estray — a 
fate  inconceivably  horrible. 

The  power  of  the  husband  over  the  wife  was 
rendered  doubly  cruel  by  his  right  to  cast  her  off 
at  pleasure.  Thus  his  rights  in  every  direction 
were  boundless  and  unquestioned.  Affection, 
which  is  the  outgrowth  of  refinement,  did  not 
exist,  except  of  an  animal  nature.  Man  looked 
upon  woman  as  a  useful  and  necessary  commod- 
ity; he  treated  her  as  such.  His  power  over  her 
offspring  was  alike  unrestrained. 

Women  and  children,  including  slaves  and  do- 
mestic animals,  formed  a  species  of  money;  they 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  13 

constituted  the  first  currency  of  the  world.  Mov- 
able property,  they  were  easily  exchangeable.* 

All  the  drudgery  of  life  was  performed  by  wom- 
en; they  were  the  first  burden  bearers,  the  primi- 
tive carriers  of  the  world,  as  they  still  are  among 
savage  people.  They  also  looked  after  the  house- 
hold and  performed  its  attendant  duties,  gather- 
ing, meanwhile,  nuts,  herbs,  roots,  fruits  and  other 
edibles  necessary  to  sustain  the  life  of  the  mas- 
ter and  his  dependents.  So  far  as  agriculture  was 
practiced  it  was  carried  on  by  women.  We  owe 
its  inception  and  growth  to  their  patient  efforts. 
It  was  never  popular  with  man.  Work  fretted 
him.  He  loved  to  manage,  to  direct,  but  not  to 
labor.  He  has  always  been  a  willing  overseer. 

In  their  savage  state  men  captured  their  wives. 
Afterward  they  bought  them.  In  the  latter  case 


*  The  evolution  of  money  corresponds  with  the  development 
of  man.  Thus,  at  one  time  women,  children  and  slaves  consti- 
tuted money;  at  another  time,  ornamental  shells,  arrow  heads, 
beads,  cattle,  sheep,  horses,  mules,  the  skins  of  animals,  and  so 
on,  according  to  the  surroundings  of  the  people.  As  men  pro- 
gressed in  wealth  and  intelligence  and  were  more  settled  in 
their  mode  of  life,  copper,  bronze,  iron,  tin,  lead,  and  finally 
silver  and  gold,  were  used  for  money.  Gold  is  the  standard  at 
the  present  time,  because  it  more  nearly  than  any  other  an- 
swers all  the  requirements  of  money  as  regards  present  quan- 
tity, yearly  supply,  bulk,  quality  of  metal,  stability  of  value, 
desirability  of  property,  and  cost  of  production.  Money  is  prop- 
erty in  the  same  sense  a  horse  or  piece  of  land  is  property,  and 
must  be  intrinsically  valuable  in  itself,  and,  moreover,  a  thing 
generally  desired.  Superabundance  or  violent  fluctuations  at- 
tending the  production  or  use  of  a  thing  render  it  unfit  for 
money.  What  shall  constitute  money  is  not  a  matter  of  senti- 
ment or  tradition,  but  of  present  utility. 


14  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

certain  guarantees  as  regards  age,  docility,  health, 
strength,  fertility,  and  other  acquirements  were 
exacted.  Women  had  no  discretion  in  the  mat- 
ter. The  man  who  could  pay  the  most  had  the 
first  choice.  The  law  of  exchange  prevailed. 
When  women  were  acquired  by  capture  it  was 
not  effected  wholly  through  wars  or  predatory 
raids,  but  by  stealth  or  rape.  The  risks  incurred 
and  the  reprisals  which  followed  caused  the  latter 
practice  to  fall  into  disuse  early  in  the  history  of 
men,  barter  taking  its  place. 

Man  as  the  stronger  animal  and  indisposed  to 
labor,  instinctively  recognized  the  worth  of  wo- 
man as  a  helpmeet.  More  trustworthy  than  a 
slave,  she  was  the  equal  of  the  latter  in  strength 
and  ability  to  work.  The  material  difference  be- 
tween the  two  consisted  in  the  fact  that  the  chil- 
dren of  the  former  possessed  certain  property 
rights,  as  men  began  to  have  belongings,  while, 
those  of  the  latter  did  not.  It  followed  that  the 
value  of  woman  made  her  a  subject  of  barter. 
A  price  was  put  upon  her  head,  first  by  her  par- 
ents and  afterward  by  her  husband.  This  the 
purchaser  was  compelled  to  pay  before  enjoying 
the  fruit  of  her  labors  or  other  rights  of  proprie- 
torship. 

The  ownership  of  a  wife  was  further  esteemed 
because  each  child  she  bore  had  a  property  value. 
Naturally  polygamy  was  practiced:  it  multiplied 
gains.  Gain  has  ever  been  at  the  root  of  man's 
nature;  moreover,  polygamy  accorded  with  man's 
tastes  and  prior  habits.  It,  however,  pre-supposes 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  15 

an  income,  ownership  of  property,  material  pos- 
sessions. In  primitive  conditions  it  is  favored  by 
women  because  it  lightens  their  burdens  by  di- 
viding the  work  among  many.  Women  are  not 
nice  about  practices  of  this  kind  during  the  ages 
in  which  they  occur;  their  sensibilities  are  blunted 
by  degrading  bondage  or  have  not  yet  budded; 
the  married  state  is  to  them  only  a  form  of  servi- 
tude. But  while  they  regard  it  with  little  or  no 
sentiment,  it  is  gratifying  and  profitable  to  the 
proprietor;  it  answers  those  appetites  in  him 
which  are  strongest  among  men — domination, 
sexualism  and  love  of  property. 

Polygamous  practices  are  natural  to  barbarous 
peoples.  They  are  founded  largely  upon  dispro- 
portion of  sexes.  The  men  are  killed  off  in  wars 
and  predatory  raids.  As  men  become  more  civ- 
ilized polygamy  answers  other  conditions,  appe- 
tites and  aims.  Thus,  possession  of  a  great 
number  of  wives  becomes  an  evidence  of  social 
importance,  the  same  as  the  possession  of  prop- 
erty in  a  commercial  community.  Polygamy  is 
properly  a  prerogative  of  the  rich  and  powerful, 
whether  legally  restricted  to  them  or  not.  When 
it  is  sanctioned  by  religious  beliefs  and  practices 
its  hold  becomes  doubly  tenacious;  then  the  evo- 
lution of  man  is  no  longer  natural,  but  con- 
strained. 

The  prevalence  of  polygamy  in  countries  where 
the  sexes  are  evenly  divided,  or  a  predominance 
of  men  existed,  has  in  many  cases  led  to  the  in- 
troduction of  what  are  known  as  polyandrous 


16  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION. 

marriages,  wherein  one  woman  became  the  wife 
of  many;  generally  a  group  of  brothers.  In  sav- 
age and  barbarous  communities  the  powerful  ab- 
sorb the  female  population.  Wherever  this  is  so, 
polyandrous  marriages  become  the  natural  re- 
course of  the  weak.  In  such  cases  the  property 
interests  of  the  family  are  vested  in  the  wife  or 
principal  husband,  usually  the  elder  brother. 
Where  the  wife  possesses  the  property,  her  influ- 
ence is  greatly  increased  thereby.  This  fact  is 
interesting  and  instructive,  arid  it  harmonizes 
with  the  conclusions  of  sociologists,  namely, 
that  women  in  semi-civilized  countries  (those  we 
denominate  barbarous),  when  allowed  to  inherit 
or  otherwise  acquire  property,  are  esteemed  and 
considerately  treated.  This  evinces,  if  proof  were 
needed,  that  the  social  distinction  between  men 
and  women  is  based,  largely,  upon  property  inter- 
ests, and  that  the  degradation  of  women  in  past 
ages  has  been  greatly,  if  not  wholly,  due  to  ab- 
sence of  proprietorship.  If  woman  wishes  to 
achieve  emancipation,  she  must  begin  by  becom- 
ing financially  independent;  if  she  wishes  to 
maintain  her  freedom  regardless  of  man,  she 
must  become  bis  equal  in  physical  strength,  as 
she  already  is  in  intelligence. 

In  polyandrous  countries  and,  indeed,  in  many 
semi-barbarous  communities  where  the  popula- 
tion is  crowded  or  food  scarce,  female  infanticide 
is  practiced  in  order  to  lessen  the  number  of 
mouths  to  feed.  It  is  common  in  China  and 
other  countries  of  the  orient  at  this  time. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  17 

There  are  many  forms  of  marriage  besides 
these  named  practiced  among  primitive  peoples: 
thus,  marriages  for  a  term;  marriages  for  par- 
ticular days  in  the  week;  experimental  marriages 
which  may  be  broken  within  a  limited  period  or 
under  certain  circumstances  without  responsi- 
bility attaching;  and,  finally,  incestuous  mar- 
riages. In  all,  property  reasons  govern  more  or 
less;  thus,  the  number  of  days  in  the  week  the 
woman  acknowledges  the  obligations  of  wife  de- 
pends, it  is  probable,  on  the  amount  of  property, 
the  number  of  bullocks  or  goats  her  husband  is 
able  to  give  her  parents. 

The  manner  of  acquiring  a  wife  or  companion 
among  savage  and  barbaric  peoples  is  exceedingly 
varied.  Among  others,  may  be  mentioned  mar- 
riage by  capture,  rape,  abduction,  personal  com- 
bat, war,  purchase,  and  barter.  This  last  takes 
on  every  possible  form  of  exchange,  including 
that  of  servitude.  Jacob  is  said  to  have  served 
fourteen  years  for  Kachel.  This  instance  illus- 
trates the  enormous  property  value  of  children 
that  attached  in  primitive  times.  When  wives 
are  acquired  by  purchase  or  barter  it  is  consid- 
ered highly  discreditable  for  a  woman  to  become 
a  wife  in  any  other  way;  she  is  demeaned.  Such 
is  the  iron  law  of  custom,  however  absurd  or  cruel 
it  may  be  apparently. 

As  mankind  emerges  from  savagery,  the  posi- 
tion of  woman  takes  on  a  more  favorable 
aspect.  Men  are  less  brutal,  less  exacting.  The 
warmth  of  progress  is  felt.  The  marriage  state 

2    Vol.  11 


18  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

approaches  more  nearly  a  union  of  mutual  rights. 
Man  begins  to  be  asked  to  give  reasons  for  what 
he  does  in  his  family.  Woman,  if  exemplary, 
cannot  be  trafficked  in  or  repudiated  with  former 
facility.  Indeed,  under  certain  circumstances  she 
may  leave  her  husband!  The  terrible  prerogative 
of  repudiation  is  mitigated.  Divorces  are  even 
recognized.  The  character  of  the  latter,  however, 
depends  upon  the  basis  of  union;  if  purely  com- 
mercial, separation  is  similarly  treated.  Where 
the  wife  is  bought,  possession  is  absolute  and 
may  only  be  relinquished  by  the  husband — cer- 
tainly not  without  return  of  purchase  money. 
If  the  wife  cost  nothing,  if  the  union  is  free, 
separation  (save  for  adultery)  may  be  equally  so. 
Freedom  to  marry  at  pleasure  is  a  step  in  the 
evolution  of  mankind.  While  prized,  it  is  at  first 
treated  with  the  wild  license  of  children.  Thus, 
a  Bedouin  has  been  known  to  have  fifty  wives  in 
succession;  a  Roman  to  have  .had  twenty-three, 
and  then  to  have  married  a  woman  who  had  been 
divorced  a  like  number  of  times.  Another  Eoman 
matron  had  eight  husbands  in  five  years.  In  cor- 
rupt or  decaying  societies  the  obligation  to  con- 
tinency  which  attaches  to  marriage  is  always 
lightly  regarded.  In  highly  civilized  countries 
property  reasons  and  public  opinion  dignify  mar- 
riage. The  bond  is  a  necessary  one,  and  its  at- 
tendant evils  not  worth  considering  compared 
with  those  of  a  contrary  character.  For  many 
reasons  mankind  is  more  and  more  inclined  to 
make  marriage  stable;  to  prevent  its  dissolution 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  19 

for  frivolous  reasons.  It  is,  above  all  tilings,  a 
disciplinary  school;  an  aid  in  weaning  men  from 
gross  sensualism;  from  the  overpowering  predis- 
position of  the  monkey  and  anthropoid  ape. 

In  every  age  the  condition  of  the  wife  fore- 
shadows that  of  the  widow.  During  the  age  of 
promiscuity  widows  were  of  course  unknown. 
With  the  first  establishment  of  the  family,  savage 
etiquette  required  that  the  wife  should  die  on  the 
tomb  of  her  husband.  This  practice  was  a  neces- 
sary protection  to  the  master;  it  made  the  wife  a 
careful  guardian  of  his  life.  Under  ameliorated 
conditions  custom  was  content  with  mutilation, 
fasting,  isolation,  immurement,  and  so  on.  The 
progress  of  time  brought  further  relief.  As  prop- 
erty, woman  became  too  valuable  to  be  killed  or 
mutilated.  She  accordingly  reverted,  with  other 
valuable  belongings  of  the  deceased,  to  his  heirs. 
She  went  with  the  chattels.  In  rare  cases  she 
reverted  to  her  parents  to  be  resold,  The  levirate, 
so  called,  contemplated  her  marriage  to  her  hus- 
band's brother,  thus  preserving  the  property  in 
the  family,  granting  it  due  protection,  and  raising 
up  an  heir  to  the  deceased.  The  ancients  were 
ever  exceedingly  provident  notwithstanding  their 
barbarous  habits. 

The  steps  leading  to  woman's  enfranchisement 
have  been  progressive,  but  halting  and  partial. 
As  a  wife  she  has  never  been  recognized  as  an 
equal  partner,  and  as  a  widow  her  life  has  been 
that  of  a  semi-dependent.  At  best  she  has  only 
been  a  fractional  sharer  in  the  estate. 


20  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

The  right  of  women  to  marry  whom  they 
please  is  freely  admitted  only  in  highly  liberal- 
ized countries;  practically  only  among  christ- 
ianized peoples.  The  teachings  of  Christ  have 
idealized  marriage,  and,  in  so  far  as  this  is 
the  case,  have  helped  to  refine  woman  and 
repress  the  brutal  in  man.  The  former  has  not 
been  slow  to  take  advantage  of  the  consid- 
eration accorded  her  by  changed  conditions  so 
that  to-day  she  is  able  in  many  countries  to 
look  down  upon  her  past  degradation  from  a 
height  far  above  those  who  were  once  her  savage 
masters. 

In  the  evolution  of  man  monogamy  follows, 
naturally,  polygamous  practices.  It  is,  however, 
in  every  case  accepted  with  reluctance  by  men, 
and  in  order  to  mitigate  its  hardships  legalized 
concubinage  is  associated  with  it  as  a  salve.  It 
is  thus  man  progresses  to  superior  heights — re- 
luctantly, grudgingly,  compromisingly.  Where 
concubinage  is  practiced  the  lesser  wife  (the  con- 
cubine) can  not  inherit  or  possess  property,  but 
her  children  may.  Concubinage  represents  an 
evolutionary  period  in  the  history  of  every  peo- 
ple, and  during  its  prevalence  it  is  not  considered 
objectionable  socially  or  otherwise.  While  the 
lesser  wife  is  not  the  equal  of  others,  she  is  not 
socially  tabooed.  Solomon  is  said  to  have  had 
three  hundred  concubines,  the  last  of  the  Incas 
three  thousand.* 


*  The  principal  wife  of  the  Inca,  as  is  well  known,  was  his 
sister. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  21 

The  practice  of  concubinage  is  widely  distinct 
from  that  of  prostitution.  The  prevalence  of  this 
latter  custom  in  every  age  and  country  evinces 
woman's  thrift  and  man's  incontinence.  It  is  a 
species  of  barter  on  commercial  venture  —  the 
putting  of  a  property  value  on  what  civilized 
society  agrees  in  designating  as  an  objectionable 
traffic.  It  is  not,  however,  thus  considered  by 
primitive  peoples,  but  is  prosecuted  openly,  with 
vigor  and  profit,  according  to  the  measure  of 
capacity  of  those  interested  in  its  gains.  Among 
the  ancients  prominent  and  influential  men  thus 
derived  large  revenues.  The  traffic  was  not  con- 
sidered more  objectionable  than  the  hiring  of 
horses  in  our  time,  and  it  was  legalized  and  taxed 
the  same  as  other  property  interests. 

Monogamy,  or  restriction  to  one  wife,  is  the 
result  of  social  conditions  superior  to  the  inclin- 
ations of  individuals.  It  does  not  by  any  means 
imply  the  betterment  of  woman's  position.  That 
depends  upon  other  things.  It  does  not  enfran- 
chise her  if  attendant  conditions  are  unfavorable. 
This  is  demonstrated  by  the  practices  of  barbar- 
ous people,  where  circumstances  compel  man  to 
content  himself  with  one  wife.  He  treats  her 
with  the  same  brutality  that  he  does  where  he 
has  a  plurality  of  wives.  Woman's  enfranchise- 
ment is  due  to  other  causes. 

The  growth  of  monogamy  is  ascribed  variously 
to  moral  progress,  the  influence  of  women,  the 
equilibrium  of  the  sexes  following  a  more  stable 
condition  of  affairs,  and,  finally,  to  property  con- 


22  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

siderations,  the  latter  including  man's  desire  to 
acquire,  to  hoard  and  to  transmit.  Monogamy 
greatly  simplifies  the  transmission  of  heritable 
property,  and,  in  so  far  as  this  is  so,  satisfies 
one  of  the  strongest  cravings  of  mankind, 
namely,  to  found  and  perpetuate  family  names 
and  interests. 

Among'  all  primeval  people  unauthorized 
adultery  is  punished  by  the  husband  as  an 
infringement  of  his  property  rights.  It  is  looked 
upon  as  a  theft,  like  the  use  of  ground  with- 
out the  payment  of  rental;  a  revolt  at  once 
concerted  and  conscious;  an  organized  con- 
spiracy within  the  family  against  the  master. 
The  punishment,  as  in  all  cases  of  theft,  is 
death,  special  efforts  being  put  forth  to  make 
it  impressive.  The  purpose  is  two-fold, — to 
deter  others  and  to  satisfy  a  savage  instinct. 
The  forms  of  punishment  indicate  man's  in- 
herent ferocity.  Thus,  in  primitive  societies, 
adultery,  when  the  husband  is  not  a  party 
to  fb,  is  punished  by  beheading,  disembowel- 
ing, burying  alive,  impaling,  stoning  to  death, 
burning,  cutting  in  pieces,  hanging,  drowning, 
being  eaten  by  animals,  mutilation,  whipping, 
immurement,  banishment,  ravishing,  confisca- 
tion of  property  and  rights,  enslavement,  or 
otherwise  as  ingenuity  suggests.  It  frequently 
happens,  however,  that  man  is  content  to 
punish  infringement  of  property  rights  of  this 
nature  by  a  simple  fine.  Strabo  tells  us  of  a 
Troglodyte  chief  who  levied  a  fine  of  a  sheep 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  M 

on  all  who  committed  adultery  with  his  wives.* 
It  is  claimed  by  eminent  sociologists  that  man's 
jealousy  of  his  wife  in  our  day  had  its  origin  when 
he  had  a  property  interest  in  her  continency; 
moreover  that  woman's  reserve  or  modesty  is  the 
outgrowth  of  ages  of  surveillance  and  cruel  sub- 
jection— a  length  of  time  compared  with  which 
the  historical  period  is  but  as  an  hour.  How  oth- 
erwise explain  why  women  possess  modesty  and 
men  do  not?  Not  only  this,  but  they  assert  that 
constancy  upon  the  part  of  the  wife  and  absti- 
nence before  marriage,  which  we  enjoin  and  agree 
in  denominating  virtue  in  women,  is  the  out- 
growth of  the  care  man  once  expended  in  guarding 
his  property  interests.  In  exacting  this  abstinence 
man  himself  finally  became  .more  or  less  impreg- 
nated with  its  spirit.  Whatever  truth  there  may 
be  in  these  theories,  man,  with  the  organization 
of  the  family,  more  and  more  separated  himself 
from  the  horde.  His  companions  became  his 


*  Among  the  North  American  Indians  adultery  might  be 
atoned  by  the  payment  of  a  fine.  The  fine  was  the  same  as  for 
murder.  These  Indians,  at  the  time  of  the  white  man's  advent, 
represented  an  interesting  stage  in  the  Evolution  of  Man.  Po- 
lygamy was  more  or  less  general;  slavery  was  common,  the  life 
of  a  slave  not  being  esteemed  more  than  that  of  a  dog;  to  kill 
a  slave  was  to  illustrate  the  owner's  prodigality  with  his  prop- 
erty; all  captives  became  slaves;  slaves  were  otherwise  obtained 
by  purchase,  for  debt,  by  kidnapping,  and  for  wrongs  com- 
mitted. Money  and  property  was,  among  many  tribes,  the  basis 
of  aristocracy;  thus,  the  man  who  paid  the  most  for  his  wife 
stood  highest  in  the  community;  the  man  who  acquired  his 
wife  without  payment  was  a  social  outcast  and  his  progeny 
hardly  within  the  pale  of  legitimacy. 


24  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

wife  and  children.  What  the  future  has  in  store 
for  him  we  can  only  surmise.  In  all  his  acts 
heretofore,  however,  a  determined  purpose  is 
apparent,  namely,  to  increase  his  personality  and 
separate  himself  from  the  crowd.  We  have  no 
reason  to  suppose  this  feeling  will  not  continue 
to  animate  him.  In  his  property  relations  he 
has  sought  to  avoid  community  of  interest. 

Communism,  while  abhorrent  to  man,  never- 
theless represents  an  interesting  phase  in  his  evo- 
lution. He  flew  to  it  in  his  savage  state  to  escape 
the  rule  of  the  chief,  who  robbed  him  at  will  of  his 
wife,  his  property  and,  last  of  all,  of  his  life.  In  his 
marital  life  man  has  sought  independence.  The 
communal,  consanguineous,  polygamous,  polyan- 
drous  and  monogamous  states  through  which  he 
has  passed  have  each  been  a  step  in  this  direction ; 
in  each  his  personal  rights  have  been  advanced. 
And  when  I  speak  of  man  I,  of  course,  refer  tt) 
woman.  They  are  alike  in  personality,  ideality 
and  destiny.  Inequality  between  them  is  based  on 
physical  reasons  and  grows  less  apparent  with 
succeeding  ages.  Each  step  heightens  the  regard 
man  pays  to  woman,  so  that  we  come  finally  to 
judge  of  his  status  by  the  consideration  he  accords 
her.  Women  possess  the  same  aspirations  as  men. 
They  are  not  less  able,  less  subtle,  less  persistent; 
they  lack  only  man's  physical  strength.  When- 
ever they  have  been  permitted  to  own  and  enjoy 
property  they  have  shown  unsurpassed  talent. 
Women  in  ancient  Egypt  occupied  a  command- 
ing position  until  the  right  to  possess  property 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  25 

was  taken  from  them.  They  were  also  powerful, 
according  to  such  interests,  among  the  Berbers, 
Grecians,  Romans  and  other  nations  of  the  past. 
The  possession  of  property  adds  enormously  to 
woman's  importance  in  our  time.  It  also  trans- 
forms her;  it  makes  her,  like  man,  stern,  exact- 
ing, far-reaching,  tyrannical.  Woman's  physical 
inferiority  is  the  only  bar  to  her  prolonged  prog- 
ress. But  up  to  this  time  it  has  been  fatal.  She 
has  never  been  able  to  hold  what  she  has  gained. 

Among  savage  and  barbarous  peoples  there  are 
but  few  slaves,  because  of  inability  to  utilize 
them.  They  consume  food,  which  is  difficult  to 
obtain,  while  they  produce  little.  Such  slaves, 
however,  as  the  master  possesses  are  usually  the 
associates  of  his  wife,  her  companions  in  drudgery 
and  servitude.  With  the  advent  of  agriculture 
it  became  possible  to  utilize  slavery  on  a  larger 
scale.  From  that  time  forward,  instead  of  eat- 
ing or  slaughtering  captives,  they  were  enslaved. 
Property  in  slaves  is  recognized  among  primitive 
people,  because  based  on  individual  effort.  Per- 
sonal property  among  savages  can  only  be  thus 
acquired.  Men  from  the  first  instinctively  ac- 
knowledge the  right  of  the  individual  to  that 
which  he  secures  by  his  own  effort. 

The  primordial  state  of  man  was  nomadic.  In- 
dividuals were  isolated.  Afterward  groups  or 
hordes  were  formed.  These  were  partly  protect- 
ive, partly  social.  They  were  dominated  by  the 
strongest.  We  know  this  because  it  conforms  to 
natural  laws.  Promiscuity  attended  the  relations 


26  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

of  the  sexes.  These  relations  were  purely  physi- 
ological. Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  weaker  yielded; 
man  as  well  as  woman.  Relations  were  primor- 
dial, those  of  primitive  savages,  of  beings  scarcely 
above  brutes.  Men  being  without  language  or 
moral  sense  were  wholly  governed  by  their  de- 
sires. Individual  freedom  was  possible  only  to 
the  strongest,  to  the  chief  of  the  horde.  These 
chiefs  succeeded  each  other  as  dominant  animals 
succeed  each  other  in  herds  of  cattle  or  swine. 

From  the  first,  however,  the  weak  sought  to 
make  themselves  independent  of  the  chief,  so  far 
as  their  personal  relations  were  concerned;  they 
strove  to  possess  and  enjoy  undisturbed.  The 
domination  of  brute  force  was  as  intolerable 
then  as  now.  Man's  efforts  were  directed  to  the 
gratification  of  his  natural  instincts  and,  among 
other  things,  the  establishment  of  his  household 
on  a  stable  basis.  He  sought  to  have  the  children 
of  his  wife  recognized  through  him  rather  than 
through  her,  as  was  the  case  during  the  period  of 
promiscuity. 

At  what  stage  in  the  progress  of  mankind  laws 
of  consanguinity  (affection  upon  the  part  of  the 
parent  for  the  child)  were  first  evinced,  there  is 
no  means  of  knowing.  Were  they  instinctive 
in  women,  and,  if  so,  at  what  period  in  the 
development  of  the  child  did  they  terminate? 
We  can  scarcely  believe  that  interest  in  the 
child  was  more  than  momentary,  because  this 
is  the  case  to-day  amongst  the  most  primitive 
people  of  whom  we  have  knowledge;  namely,  the 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  27 

inhabitants  of  Borneo.  Reasoning  by  analogy, 
men  and  women  were  not  different  primarily  in 
this  respect  from  other  animals. 

During  the  period  of  promiscuity  children  took 
cognizance  only  of  maternal  relations — of  the 
mother;  of  her  mother,  her  grandmother,  and 
their  descendants.  The  mother's  brother,  usually 
the  oldest,  occupied  the  place  which  the  father 
occupies  in  civilized  communities.  The  reason  is 
simple  enough:  the  identity  of  the  father  was,  at 
best,  problematical.  But  even  when  assured,  his 
love  lacked  in  intensity  that  of  the  mother.  Thus 
groups  of  consanguineous  people  were  formed. 
These  hordes  were  attracted  toward  each  other 
by  common  ties  traced  through  the  mother.  This 
was  the  first  ethnic  division  of  mankind — the  or- 
igin of  the  clan;  the  unit  of  the  tribe;  the  nucleus 
of  nations.  It  is  because  of  consanguineous  rela- 
tionship that  these  primitive  people  very  gener- 
ally interdict  marriages  within  the  clan.  Mates 
must  be  sought  in  associated  organizations.  In 
the  progress  of  time  when  a  group  became  too 
large  it  segregated  —  swarmed,  like  bees,  so  to 
speak.  The  property  was  divided  and  another 
clan  formed.  Thus  the  divisions  went  on  until 
the  bonds  of  relationship  were  lost  or  became  a 
tradition  only.* 

*  If  the  reader  asks  how  we  know  these  things  the  answer  is, 
through  the  practices  of  savage  and  barbarous  peoples  with 
which  we  are  familiar.  Very  little  is  left  to  speculation.  The 
processes  of  evolution  among  different  people  are  the  same  in 
every  age  and  quarter  of  the  globe.  Greater  progress  is  made 
in  some  cases  than  in  others,  but  the  successive  steps  from  sav- 


28  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

In  the  savage  state  of  man  there  was  neither 
government  nor  order.  The  length  of  this  period 
no  one  can  estimate.  It  must,  however,  have  been 
of  enormous  duration,  since  evolution  under  such 
circumstances  is  scarcely  perceptible.  Violence 
was  the  rule;  force  only  was  recognized.  The 
leader  of  to-day  was  murdered  to  make  a  place 
for  the  a'spirant  of  to-morrow.  Rivalry  was  not 
tolerated,  and  association  of  interest  was  un- 
known. 

Out  of  this  chaotic  state  there  emerged  the 
communistic  period.  It  was  created  to  break  the 
intolerable  burden  of  brute  force;  of  the  bully 
who  appropriated  or  murdered  at  pleasure.  Un- 
der it  comparative  safety  existed.  Something 


agery  are  identical.  Natural  instincts  do  not  differ  materially 
in  different  races.  Our  information  of  the  habits  of  primitive 
people  is  copious  and  reliable;  it  is  based  on  the  observations 
of  travelers  and  students  covering  many  centuries.  It  is  con- 
firmed by  the  customs  that  have  been*  handed'  down  from  past 
ages  among  civilized  and  semi-civilized  people.  Men,  more- 
over, never  fully  wean  themselves  of  habits  based  on  natural 
laws;  these  continue  to  reassert  themselves  forever.  Observa- 
tion, analogy,  deduction  and  comparison,  all  confirm  the  uni- 
versality of  man  and  the  conditions  that  characterize  his 
growth.  The  testimony  bearing  on  this  subject  is  inexhaust- 
ible. Every  writer  who  has  lived  or  traveled  among  primitive 
peoples,  or  attentively  observed  those  more  advanced,  has  con- 
tributed something  to  the  subject.  Among  the  more  generally 
recognized  are:  Homer,  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Xenophon, 
Polybius,  Strabo,  Diodorus,  Plutarch,  Pliny,  authors  of  Archae- 
ological Documents,  the  Scriptures,  the  Sacred  Books  of  India, 
the  Koran,  Marco  Polo,  Cook,  Bruce,  Clapperton,  Wake,  Turner, 
Remusat,  Elphinstone,  Prescott,  Darwin,  Du  Chaillu,  Schwein- 
furth,  Bancroft,  Spencer,  Ch.  Letourneau.  A  volume  might  be 
filled  with  the  names  of  authorities. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  29 

approaching  order  was  inaugurated.  It  was,  how- 
ever, the  order  of  savages.  Solidarity  was  merci- 
lessly enforced,  for  upon  it  rested  the  only  hope 
of  perpetuating  the  community  and  thereby  es- 
caping the  domination  of  brute  force  that  before 
existed.  This  association  of  interest  not  only 
served  as  a  protection  against  the  strong  within 
the  community,  but  as  a  bulwark  against  hostile 
tribes.  In  everything  custom  had  the  force  of 
law;  the  rules  that  governed  one  governed  all. 
The  community  ate  and  lived  together.  Its  food, 
clothing,  and  hunting  grounds  were  held  in  com- 
mon and  regulated  by  general  rules.  These  rules, 
while  unwritten,  might  not  be  transgressed.  The 
peace  and  lives  of  the  community,  and  avoidance 
of  former  subservient  conditions,  depended  there- 
on. A  species  of  local  government  was  thus 
instituted.  But  while  community  of  interest 
afforded  members  personal  protection  within  the 
precincts  of  the  tribe,  it  extended  no  further. 
Warfare  between  rival  organizations  was  unceas- 
ing. It  knew  neither  mercy  nor  distinction  of 
age  or  sex;  men  met  only  to  destroy  each  other. 
Solidarity  was  a  necessity  of  life.  Isolation 
meant  death  or  slavery. 

Wars  and  predatory  raids  among  savages  were 
ever  favorite  means  of  acquiring  property,  in- 
cluding slaves.  The  fruits  of  these  wars  in 
communistic  societies  are  divided.  But  even  in 
this  savage  state  that  which  men  personally 
achieve  in  war  they  are  allowed  to  personally 
enjoy. 


30  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

In  the  primitive  organization  I  am  describing 
society  was  a  unit.  Men  contributed  in  common 
to  the  general  fund,  not  excepting  the  obligation 
to  avenge  wrongs  committed  upon  individual 
members  of  the  tribe  by  enemies  or  alien  people. 
The  communistic  period  was  thus  attended  by 
more  or  less  precise  arrangements.  They  were, 
howeverr  exceedingly  rude.  Their  purpose  was 
to  escape  the  ferocious  domination  of  individual 
men.  Customs  were  based  on  the  few  funda- 
mental wants  of  the  community  at  the  time  it 
was  founded;  these  could  not  be  changed  because 
too  many  interests  conflicted.  There  was,  conse- 
quently, no  progress.  Private  ownership  of  realty 
was  unknown,  but  temporary  rights  were,  how- 
ever, in  some  instances,  accorded  persons  who 
cleared  a  plot  of  ground.  The  institution  of  the 
common  hunting  ground  was  an  incident  of  com- 
munism. The  creation  and  maintenance  of  this 
storehouse  indicated  a  step  from  primitive  condi- 
tions. It  was  a  quasi  recognition  of  property 
rights.  But  the  game  that  was  caught  was 
shared  in  common,  according  to  such  rules  as  the 
interests  of  the  tribe  prescribed. 

The  soil,  while  it  had  no  value,  was  owned  by 
the  community  in  common.  Men  might  not  pre- 
empt nor  buy  as  in  our  day.  This  was  the  true 
age  of  communism,  an  age  of  rude  savagery.  The 
so-called  communism,  which  it  is  sought  in  a 
desultory  way  by  idealists  to  engraft  upon  highly 
civilized  societies,  is  a  condition  or  stage  of  primi- 
tive life  through  which  all  peoples  must  pass  as 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  31 

they  emerge  from  savagery.  Communism  then 
exists,  not  because  savages,  any  more  than  enlight- 
ened people,  desire  to  share  what  they  have*  in 
common  with  others,  but  because  solidarity  is 
necessary  to  protect  individuals  from  the  com- 
mon enemy  and  otherwise  preserve  necessary 
sources  of  supply.  There  is,  moreover,  at  that 
period  nothing  to  divide  or  share  in  common  ex- 
cept the  rude  necessities  of  life.  Men's  wants 
are  not  above  those  of  animals;  there  are  no  in- 
dustries or  arts,  no  luxuries,  not  even  comforts. 
Property,  except  of  a  primitive  nature,  is  un- 
known; there  are  no  mediums  of  exchange,  no 
bartering.  Men  share  the  miseries  of  life;  the 
common  defense;  the  procurement  of  food,  and, 
finally,  its  division  from  day  to  day  among  the 
naked  and  half-famished  horde.  But  even  at  this 
period  property  which  individuals  have  created 
is,  as  I  have  noticed,  recognized  as  personal. 
The  community  of  interest  which  exists  is  not 
premeditated  or  studied.  It  is  simply  a  sequence 
in  evolution;  a  probationary  school;  a  period  of 
quiescent  waiting. 

So  soon  as  a  community  learns  to  maintain 
order,  to  restrain  the  vicious  and  secure  indi- 
vidual safety  to  the  weak,  communism  vanishes. 
The  personality  of  man  reasserts  itself.  Men  are 
no  longer  content  to  live  in  common.  Each  indi- 
vidual seeks  to  add  to  his  belongings  by  personal 
effort,  by  self  denial,  by  hoarding  and,  finally,  by 
industrial  and  commercial  ventures.  Our  civili- 
zation is  the  result  of  collective  efforts  in  this 


32  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

direction.  We  owe  to  such  aspirations  all  we 
have  that  is  not  purely  animal,  and,  among  other 
things,  family  relations. 

Love  of  property  was  early  developed  in  man. 
It  is  his  most  distinguishing  trait.  The  first 
storehouse  was  that  of  the  Clan.  But  as  man 
emerged  from  barbarism  he  craved  greater  free- 
dom and- privacy.  These  could  only  be  found 
within  an  organization  controlled  by  him.  Thus 
the  family  suggested  itself.  Here  he  was  supreme. 
Here,  consequently,  all  his  interests  were  hence- 
forth focused.  The  creation  of  the  family  was 
due,  it  is  thought,  to  property  interests  rather 
than  to  those  of  a  moral  or  platonic  nature. 
Man's  love  of  material  things  here  as  elsewhere 
subdued  his  savage  instincts,  heightened  his  moral 
sense  and  increased  his  understanding. 

The  repressive  communistic  period  was  fol- 
lowed by  more  beneficent  forms  of  government. 
The  community  had  found  it. possible  to  protect 
in  a  measure  the  individual  without  destroying 
his  identity  in  the  world.  A  chief  was  chosen 
whose  office  in  time  became  hereditary.  While 
his  power  was,  in  the  main,  forcibly  maintained, 
it  was  based  on  superior  attainments;  among 
others,  the  art  of  governing.  Thus  scattered 
tribes  were  confederated  and  great  monarchies 
formed.  The  process  is  still  going  on  in  savage 
countries.  Early  communistic  habits,  however, 
more  or  less  permeate  these  barbaric  organiza- 
tions, but  they  only  serve  to  hamper  man's  free- 
dom and  lessen  his  rights.  The  king  is  the  state; 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  33 

he  takes  the  place  of  the  commune.  He  owns 
the  soil  and  at  will  grants  fiefs  to  his  retainers 
and  favorites.  The  chiefs  of  petty  tribes  make 
similar  allotments  to  their  satellites.  The  object 
in  each  case  is  the  cementing  of  their  power. 

Hand  in  hand  with  these  progressive  steps  in 
the  early  history  of  the  world,  religions  asserted 
themselves.  From  the  first  their  prerogatives 
were  more  or  less  clearly  defined  and  their  rights 
strictly  enforced.  But  their  purpose  more  and 
more  took  on  an  enlightened  and  humane  form 
in  harmony  with  surroundings.  This  was  to  be 
expected.  Religion  answers  an  essential  part  of 
man's  being  and  has  been  found  to  keep  pace 
with  his  evolution,  his  ever  growing  needs.  With 
each  progressive  step  he  is  better  able  to  under- 
stand it  and  its  beneficent  purposes.  The  church 
quickly  became,  through  its  organized  priesthood, 
the  second  power  in  the  state — oftentimes  the 
first.  Monarchs  bowed  to  it  in  spiritual  matters, 
frequently  in  worldly  affairs,  but  whenever  pos- 
sible hastened  to  absorb  its  power  and  privileges 
in  their  own  persons. 

Under  the  arbitrary  and  complex  forms  of  gov- 
ernment such  as  I  have  described,  the  commu- 
nity, while  not  at  all  regarded,  was  still  able,  in 
a  small  way,  to  accumulate  personal  belongings. 
Industries  grew  up,  commerce  received  more  or 
less  attention,  treaties  between  neighboring  peo- 
ples were  made.  Mankind  was  encouraged  to 
produce.  It  was  thus  the  needs  of  the  state, 
more  especially  of  the  ruler,  were  to  be  met. 

3    Vol.  11 


34  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

Men  were,  however,  widely  scattered  and  their 
efforts  such  as  might  naturally  be  expected  of 
semi-barbarians.  Their  habitations  were  rude 
and  their  food  and  belongings  of  the  simplest 
kind.  In  everything  they  were  the  creatures  of 
those  above  them.  While  they  might,  in  a  lim- 
ited way,  acquire  personal  property,  they  were 
denied  ownership  of  the  soil;  only  the  usufruct 
belonged  to  them.  Proprietorship  vested  in  the 
king  or  chief. 

These  forms  of  government  were  the  natural 
reaction  of  man  against  Communism,  the  despot- 
ism of  the  mass  wherein  progress  was  impossible. 
They  were  an  outburst  of  individualism;  a  pro- 
test against  stagnation,  against  the  mental  and 
physical  paralysis  of  mediocracy  that  character- 
ized the  commune;  they  denoted  a  period  of  re- 
actionary rage  such  as  men  might  feel  at  being 
harnessed  to  the  dead.  The  new  forms  recog- 
nized natural  and  necessary  distinctions,  the  in- 
herent differences  in  man's  make-up.  They  were 
a  protest  against  the  shackles  which  had  chained 
men  of  unequal  capacity  and  temperament  to 
each  other.  They  were,  however,  neither  just 
nor  equitable.  Conditions  under  them  were 
far  from  favorable  to  the  elevation  of  man. 
We  look  back  upon  this  period  with  a  shudder. 
Nevertheless,  the  new  order  afforded  some  slight 
latitude:  the  force  of  example,  for  instance,  was 
something.  What  one  accomplished,  others 
might  achieve.  The  instinct  in  man  to  better 
himself — an  instinct  which  nothing  can  suppress 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  35 

—flamed  up.  So  that,  as  time  progressed,  the 
arbitrary  and  tyrannical  privileges  of  exclusive 
classes  were  little  by  little  broken  down  until 
finally  equal  rights  in  all  matters  affecting  prop- 
erty were  secured.  Henceforth  all  was  clear. 
Social  differences  continued,  but  men  concerned 
themselves  but  little  about  these  so  long  as  their 
property  rights  were  respected.  They  knew  that 
social  distinctions  always,  sooner  or  later,  give 
way  to  property  interests  with  the  attendant 
advantages  of  the  latter. 

The  barbaric  kingdoms  of  antiquity  had  their 
counterpart  among  the  monarchic  chiefs  of  de- 
tached tribes.  Each  exercised  power  with  but 
little  restraint.  The  age  was  one  of  violence, 
and  men  sought  shelter  where  they  might,  as  in 
a  storm.  What  we  know. as  the  feudal  period 
succeeded  this;  a  period  when  class  preyed  upon 
class.  While  king  and  church  disputed  for  prec- 
edence the  nobility  respected  neither,  but  ruled 
with  an  iron  hand,  robbing  where  they  did  not 
tax.  Men  were  attached  to  the  soil  as  serfs,  or 
held  their  belongings  subject  to  the  pleasure  of 
the  lord  of  the  neighborhood.  He  protected 
them  against  outside  aggression,  and  for  this 
they  were  glad  to  merge  their  fortunes  with  his. 
It  was  their  only  recourse;  isolation  meant  death 
or,  at  least,  despoliation.  The  lord's  castle  thus 
became  the  common  refuge  in  time  of  danger. 
The  maintenance  of  its  retinue  of  servants,  its 
vast  storehouses  and  armed  forces  fell  upon  the 
community.  In  cases  of  emergency  every  man 


8  6  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 


pledged  to  take  up  arms  to  maintain  the 
common  good.  Calls  of  this-  nature  were  fre- 
quent. Localities  preyed  upon  each  other. 

Raids,  ha.ving  for  their  object  the  acquisition 
of  property  or  the  avenging  of  wrongs,  were  of 
frequent,  almost  daily,  occurrence.  Robbery  and 
murder  were  common.  But  in  all  things  the 
power  of  the  protecting  lord  over  his  followers 
was  absolute.  He  might  condemn  or  pardon. 
No  one  might  pass  through  his  domain  without 
paying  a  tax;  no  one  live  within  its  precincts 
without  contributing  to  his  might.  Thus  he  re- 
cruited his  revenues  and  maintained  his  state. 
This  condition  of  affairs  was  in  the  end  over- 
thrown partly,  as  in  the  case  of  the  commune, 
by  man's  craving  for  greater  freedom  and  partly 
by  the  jealousy  of  rival  powers.  King  and  church 
each  sought  enfranchisement  from  the  other  by 
concessions  to  their  followers.  The  community 
looked  on  and  waited,  pitting  one  against  the 
other.  Cities  thus  acquired  their  freedom,  guilds 
were  established,  trade  was  carried  on,  com- 
merce was  extended  and  property  interests  safe- 
guarded. Men  were  permitted  to.  accumulate, 
to  hoard  and  to  transmit  property.  Individual- 
ism more  and  more  began  to  assert  itself.  With 
growth  of  private  property  rulers  became  more 
complaisant;  they  ceased  to  harass  individuals 
and  turned  to  their  more  rightful  functions, 
namely,  the  protection  of  the  community  as  a 
whole  in  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  its  rights. 
The  struggle,  however,  between  ruler  and  people 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  37 

occupied  many  centuries.  It  was  hard  for  the 
former  to  give  up  the  right  to  own  the  soil,  to 
appropriate  to  the  state  at  will  the  property  of 
the  subject,  to  hold  the  life  of  the  latter  in  his 
hands.  But  when  the  exercise  of  this  power 
became  baneful  to  the  community,  instead  of 
generally  beneficial,  it  fell  to  the  ground.  But 
the  transition  was  attended  by  many  deplorable 
collisions.  At  this  period,  as  in  every  other, 
man's  struggle  to  enfranchise  himself  met  with 
obstinate  resistance.  But  the  difficulties  he  had 
to  overcome  benefited  him  in  this  that  they 
taught  him  moderation,  self-control,  regard  for 
the  rights  of  others,  the  courage  and  fortitude  to 
maintain  what  he  had  acquired. 


Agriculture,  which  has  done  so  much  to  tame 
man,  had  its  rise  during  the  monarchic  period. 
During  the  communal  age  it  did  not  progress 
farther  than  the  digging  of  a  hole  in  the  ground 
with  a  sharp  stick  and  the  planting  of  seeds 
therein,  without  subsequent  care.  The  plow  was 
unknown,  and  when  first  introduced  was  made 
of  wood  and  did  little  more  than  scratch  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  as  it  was  dragged  back  and 
forth  by  women  and  slaves.  Domestic  animals 
in  the  communistic  period  were  also  unknown, 
or,  if  known,  it  had  not  occurred  to  man  to  use 
them.  Women  planted,  reared  and  gathered  the 
crops.  The  men  at  most  only  cleared  the  ground 
of  the  timber  which  encumbered  it.  Agriculture, 
it  will  thus  be  seen,  was  but  little  regarded.  Its 


38  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

fruits  were  too  small,  too  uncertain,  too  labori- 
ously attained.  It  may  be  said  never  to  have 
been  practiced,  except  in  an  isolated  way,  until 
men  were  unable  to  live  by  the  chase.  When 
the  hunting  grounds  were  exhausted,  agriculture 
was  the  only  resource.  Its  advent  closed  the 
communal  period.  Man's  growth  henceforth 
was  steady  and  rapid,  and  as  he  progressed  in 
habits  of  industry  and  peaceable  inclination 
allotments  of  the  soil  occurred.  He  learned  to 
irrigate,  to  fertilize,  to  vary  the  crops.  Agricul- 
ture made  him  independent;  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  live  within  himself.  His  individuality, 
consequently,  more  and  more  strongly  asserted 
itself.  But  he  was  retarded  by  the  fact  that  pos- 
session of  the  land  allotted  to  him  was  only  tem- 
porary, although  for  longer  and  longer  periods. 
He  wanted  it  in  fee,  free  from  restrictions.  The 
king  owned  in  perpetuity,  why  should  not  he? 
Out  of  these  contending  influences  piivate  own- 
ership of  land  little  by  little  was  evolved.  Own- 
ership of  attendant  personal  property,  the  house 
with  its  plot  of  ground,  the  domestic  animals, 
farming  utensils,  and  so  on,  had  long  been  at- 
tained. At  this  period  man  also  acquired  (it  is  a 
stage  in  his  progress)  the  right  to  transmit  his 
property.  The  law  of  inheritance  became  opera- 
tive. At  first  carefully  regulated,  it  afterward 
became  free.  The  way  was  now  open  to  unlim- 
ited accumulations,  peaceably  acquired,  peacea- 
bly held,  fully  transmitted.  With  these  changes 
man's  disposition  to  acquire,  always  great,  in- 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  39 

creased  tenfold.  There  opened  up  to  him  a 
boundless  field  for  the  gratification  of  his  ambi- 
tion and  the  display  of  his  Godlike  talents.  To 
this  opportunity  we  owe  the  fruition  of  our 
highest  forms  of  civilization;  their  quick  con- 
summation after  countless  centuries  of  savage 
and  semi-barbarous  life.  But  while  we  owe  so 
much  to  man's  enfranchisement,  the  excesses 
growing  out  of  it  have  in  more  than  one  instance 
occasioned  the  destruction  of  the  civilization  it 
for  a  time  fostered.  They  are,  however,  not 
irremediable,  but  merely  an  incident  of  man's 
evolution.  The  check  has  come  from  the  vast 
differences  which  exist  in  the  acquisitiveness  of 
individuals.  A  few  acquired  all,  and  in  doing  so 
deprived  their  country  of  its  natural  defenders 
and  greatest  sources  of  wealth.  The  citizens 
who  fought  to  maintain  their  country  and  pre- 
serve its  liberties  so  long  as  they  had  a  material 
interest  in  its  existence  did  not  concern  them- 
selves seriously  with  its  affairs  when  they  no 
longer  owned  its  soil.  Herein  mainly  lies  the 
secret  of  the  decadence  of  nations.  It  is  not  that 
men  become  less  virile  or  less  courageous,  but 
that  they  no  longer  have  personal  interests  to 
defend.  Thus  individualism  has  built  up  only 
to  destroy.  The  evil  will  work  its  own  cure  in 
natural- ways,  as  other  and  worse  evils  have 
been  cured  in  the  past. 

Such  is,  in  a  word,  the  evolution  of  man.  The 
picture  accords  with  his  nature;  his  grasping  and 
tyrannical  disposition.  It  is  apparent  at  every 


40  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

stage  in  his  progress  that  he  is  wholly  bound  up 
in  material  things;  in  the  ownership  of  property. 
This  is  his  distinguishing  trait.  In  order  to  un- 
derstand him,  therefore,  we  must  comprehend 
this  peculiarity.  This  is  why  I  have  associated 
the  growth  of  property  with  the  evolution  of 
man.  The  two  are  inseparable.  I  wish,  however, 
to  notice  ojie  trait  in  him  engendered  by  his  greed 
of  worldly  things.  I  refer  to  the  more  or  less 
willing  deference  he  pays  to  that  which  belongs 
to  others;  the  sentiment  that  leads  him  to  respect 
the  property  rights  of  his  neighbor;  what  we,  in 
short,  call  honesty.  This  sentiment  is  not  innate 
in  him;  far  from  it.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of  en- 
forced habit.  The  moral  sense  in  civilized  man 
which  causes  him  to  distinguish  between  "  mine" 
and  "thine,"  to  respect  what  is  "thine,"  has  no 
place  in  his  primitive  life.  Savages  have  no  con- 
ception of  it.  They  never  question  the  right  of 
the  strongest  nor  dream  they  are  acting  improp- 
erly in  appropriating  the  property  of  those  they 
are  able  to  overcome.  It  is  esteemed  praise- 
worthy. During  the  heroic  period  of  Greece  such 
practices  were  common.  Honesty  had  not  been 
evolved  among  them.  The  habit  (for  it  is  a  habit) 
is  the  most  simple  of  phenomena.  It  had  its 
origin  in  the  inception  and  growth  of  property 
and  the  necessity  of  defending  ownership  there- 
in. Man  is,  above  all  animals,  acquisitive.  His 
greed  knows  no  bounds.  From  the  moment  men 
first  acquired  property  they  have  been  assiduously 
surrounding  it  with  safeguards.  In  every  age 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  41 

they  have  banded  together  for  this  purpose.  Out 
of  the  measures  they  have  taught  and  enforced 
there  has  grown  up  in  man  the  habit  of  respect- 
ing the  property  rights  of  others.  In  highly 
civilized  countries  this  habit  has  become  so  fixed 
and  idealized  as  to  scarcely  occasion  effort  or 
comment.  We  are  honest  perforce,  but  mainly 
because  we  respect  the  opinions  of  others.  The 
habit  disappears  the  moment  man  lapses  into 
barbarism;  no  vestige  of  it  then  remains  to  dis- 
turb the  equanimity  of  his  mind  when  oppor- 
tunity of  unlawful  possession  arises.  The  law 
of  might  reasserts  itself.  But  so  long  as  men  are 
imbued  with  civilized  usages,  a  regard  for  the 
opinions  of  others,  coupled  with  a  fear  of  the 
punishment  meted  out  to  transgressors,  restrains 
them.  The  command,  "Thou  shalt  not  steal," 
which  has  resounded  for  over  three  thousand 
years,  idealizes  a  purely  mechanical  conception. 
Peoples  who  know  nothing  about  the  Mosaic  law, 
whose  religion  is  of  the  grossest,  enforce  respect 
for  property  rights  quite  as  ardently  as  did  the 
ancient  Hebrew.  Moreover,  regulations  of  this 
nature,  like  the  thing  they  concern,  are  progres- 
sive. Each  year  inculcates  increased  respect. 
The  feeling  of  religiosity,  however,  wherever  it 
intervenes,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Mosaic  law,  spir- 
itualizes questions  of  honesty.  It  has  done  so  in 
our  case.  Christ  taught  men  to  respect  the  rights 
of  all.  Mohammed  taught  his  followers  to  respect 
only  the  rights  of  their  brethren;  to  pillage  all 
others.  His  religion  is  that  of  the  clan  or  tribe; 


42  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

that  of  a  primitive,  barbarous  age.  Christ's  is 
universal  in  its  application.  But  the  teachings  of 
each  in  regard  to  honesty  are  carried  out  with 
equal  zeal  by  their  followers,  albeit  lapses  are 
frequent  and  marked. 

In  every  age  robbery  has  been  punished  with 
ferocious  severity.  While  murder  in  the  primi- 
tive period  was  lightly  regarded  or  might  be 
atoned,  theft  was  punished  with  death.  The  sav- 
age safeguards  which  have  from  the  first  been 
thrown  around  property  have  bred  in  men's  minds 
a  superstition  in  reference  to  it  which  we  ascribe 
to  purely  ethical  causes;  to  an  inward  monitor 
that  never  sleeps.  The  feeling  is,  however,  artifi- 
cial, and  vanishes  the  moment  extraneous  pressure 
is  withdrawn.  Children  have  no  instinctive  knowl- 
edge of  it  as  they  have  of  hanger  or  thirst.  Jt  is, 
consequently,  not  a  part  of  our  nature.  The  sub- 
ject is  an  interesting  one.  It  associates  ideas  that 
are  at  once  moral  and  physical,  conscious  and 
constrained.  I  am  compelled  to  content  myself 
with  a  bare  statement  of  the  fact  (deduced  from 
the  above  premises)  that  the  respect  men  pay  to 
the  rights  of  others,  while  real  and  tangible,  is 
the  creation  of  man  just  as  much  as  the  property 
it  is  sought  to  guard  is  his  creation.  It  is  not 
spiritual,  but  mental  and  physical;  the  result  of 
environment,  of  centuries  of  education  and  of  an 
ever  increasing  regard  for  public  opinion.  Fear 
of  punishment  is  only  secondary. 

In  the  primordial  state,  as  already  noticed,  prop- 
erty is  unknown.  Man  seeks  only  to  gratify  his 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  43 

present  appetite.  It  does  not  occur  to  him  to  lay 
by  anything  for  the  morrow.  This  latter  only 
comes  with  enlightenment.  Foresight  presup- 
poses intelligence,  more  or  less  fixed  purposes. 
Many  progressive  steps  must  be  climbed  by  man 
before  this  one  is  reached.  Acquisition  of  prop- 
erty at  first  has  no  great  purpose  in  view.  It 
contemplates  only  the  present.  It  is  in  this  spirit 
man  begins  his  acquisitions.  But  afterwards 
other  things  intervene.  The  primary  object, 
however,  remains,  namely,  provision  for  personal 
needs,  and,  what  has  now  come  to  be  the  same 
thing  with  man,  the  needs  of  his  family. 

Our  civilization  represents  a  stage  of  man's 
progress,  and,  so  far,  is  a  problem  which  he  has 
not  been  able  to  solve  in  an  altogether  satisfactory 
way.  While  man  recognizes  that  he  owes  mainly 
the  advance  he  has  made  to  the  influences  which 
surround  the  ownership  of  property,  he  persist- 
ently refuses  to  adopt  measures  that  will  perpetu- 
ate his  advantage ;  that  will  prevent  the  destruction 
of  the  civil  structure  he  has  reared,  and  with  it 
the  destruction  of  his  material  wealth.* 


*  The  stages  of  man,  so  far  as  investigations  up  to  this  time 
have  enabled  archaeological  and  sociological  students  to  trace 
them,  may  be  recapitulated  as  follows:  Savagery:  That  state 
in  which  might  reigns;  where  men  do  as  they  please.  The  Com- 
munistic State:  In  which  men  dwell  together  in  a  semi-savage 
state,  where  the  few  and  simple  possessions  of  the  community 
are  shared  in  common.  Autocratic  Government:  Where  the  mul- 
titude is  subjected  to  the  arbitrary  authority  of  a  central  ruler 
and  those  acting  for  or  with  him.  In  this  stage  ownership  of 
the  land,  and  oftentimes  of  personal  property  as  well,  is  vested  in 
the  ruler.  He  also  frequently  arrogates  to  himself  the  marital 


44  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

Nothing  is  more  interesting  and  instructive 
than  the  history  of  property  in  its  relation  to 
man.  To  its  accumulation  and  the  measures  he 
has  taken  to  preserve  it  we  must  ascribe  largely, 
if  not  wholly,  his  moral  growth.  Upon  it  is  based 
the  ethical  code  of  which  he  boasts  so  much. 
Its  influence  makes  men  industrious,  peaceable, 
saving  and  prudent.  It  enlarges  their  under- 
standing by  the  thought  they  must  give  it.  It 
is  also  responsible  for  many  ignoble  vices, 
among  others,  covetousness,  envy  and  theft. 
These  latter,  however,  men  agree  in  recog- 
nizing as  distorted  virtues;  qualities  that,  when 
properly  governed,  are  of  great  advantage  to 
mankind. 

Wherever  property  is  protected  its  growth  is 
rapid.  Circumstances  of  the  greatest  deprivation 
do  not  lessen  man's  interest  in  it.  Where  it  is 
not  protected  it  exists  only  so  far  as  man  is 
compelled  to  accumulate  and.  to  hoard.  In  the 
classical  age  men  found  means  in  favored  coun- 
tries to  guard  what  they  acquired,  but  only  to  be 
overcome  finally  by  the  more  greedy  of  their  own 
kind.  Thus  Greece  and  Rome  fell.  From  their 
experience,  and  others  even  more  pertinent  that 


rights  of  husbands  or  prospective  husbands.  This  last  is  a 
prerogative  of  chieftainship  in  all  ages  and  places.  Individual 
Enfranchisement:  Where  great  abundance  and  widespread  owner- 
ship of  property  exists.  This  is  succeeded  by  its  concentration 
in  the  hands  of  a  few,  followed  by  the  subjugation  of  the  state 
from  without  and  the  overthrow  of  the  social  structure,  the 
destruction  of  material  wealth  and  the  enslavement  of  the 
people. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  45 

might  be  recited,  thoughtful  men  derive  this  les- 
son among  others,  namely,  that  man's  ability  to 
preserve  unimpaired  the  civilization  for  which  he 
struggles,  and  the  property  on  which  it  is  based, 
depends  upon  his  ability  to  preserve  the  owner- 
ship of  the  soil  among  the  masses  of  the  people. 
Only  thus  can  he  make  it  of  vital  interest  to 
them  to  perpetuate  existing  conditions  and,  if 
necessary,  to  fight  and  otherwise  contribute  to 
the  common  good.  But  this  must  be  achieved 
without  injustice;  without  destroying  personal 
initiative  or  deadening  the  ambitious  aims  of  in- 
dividual men.  Otherwise,  decadence  will  follow 
in  other  directions.  The  process  must  be  peace- 
able and  equitable.  Agrarianism  will  not  do. 
Such  measures  only  hasten  the  catastrophe,  be- 
cause they  destroy  man's  pride  and  lessen  his 
personal  endeavor. 

When  men  have  attained  the  object  pointed 
out,  and  it  requires  precautionary  measures  only, 
their  civil  liberty  may  be  indefinitely  prolonged 
and  their  intellectual  and  moral  growth  indefi- 
nitely heightened.  In  many  highly  civilized 
countries,  notably  the  United  States,  the  con- 
ditions are  exceedingly  favorable;  ownership  of 
property,  above  all  land,  is  widely  diffused;  there 
is  no  proletariat;  the  domain  is  ample.  All  may 
acquire  property.  It  only  remains  to  perpetuate 
this  state  of  affairs.  It  will  not  last,  however,  if 
precautionary  measures  are  not  early  adopted. 
The  subject  concerns  all;  rich  and  poor;  the  for- 
mer especially. 


46  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

The  overthrow  of  societies  is  due  to  the  absence 
of  solidarity;  to  lack  of  common  interests;  to  the 
absence  of  incentive  upon  the  part  of  the  people 
to  maintain. 

Patriotism  in  the  absence  of  ownership  of  prop- 
erty is  a  volatile,  not  a  concrete,  substance;  one 
master  is  as  good  as  another;  a  noble  master  is 
better  than  a  common  one. 

An  especial  danger  which  threatens  the  United 
States  is  the  influx  of  alien  peoples  that  neither 
possess  property  nor  knowledge  of  self  govern- 
ment. The  acquisition  of  land  by  such  people  in 
the  face  of  ever  growing  competition  will  be 
more  and  more  difficult  as  time  progresses.  Each 
year  their  tendencies  will  consequently  become 
more  and  more  anarchic.  Without  material  in- 
terest in  the  country,  they  will  be  a  disturbing 
element  in  time  of  peace  and  a  source  of  weak- 
ness in  time  of  war.  With  nothing  to  defend, 
they  will  be  as  unstable  as  the  waves  of  the  sea, 
as  treacherous  as  its  ever  shifting  sands.  Our 
country  should  be  closed  to  this  class.  No  one 
should  be  admitted  within  its  borders  who  does 
not  bring  a  property  guarantee  of  peaceable  be- 
havior and  patriotic  interest.  Pauper  immigra- 
tion is  a  source  of  civil  danger  and  an  injury  to 
the  laboring  class.  The  United  States  may  as- 
similate the  vast  numbers  of  such  people  who 
have  already  sought  shelter  within  its  domain; 
it  is  even  possible  the  limit  has  not  been  reached, 
but  that  it  approaches  it  there  can  be  no  doubt 


CHAPTER  II. 

PRIMITIVE  MAN — THE  FIRST  CARRIER — HOW  FAR  CAR- 
RIAGE WAS  PERFECTED  AMONG  THE  ARYANS  DUR- 
ING THE  PALAEOLITHIC  PERIOD. 

In  the  early  and  primitive  state  of  man  woman 
performed  all  the  drudgery  of  life,  as  she  does  to- 
day among  the  savage  people  of  the  world.  She 
was  the  first  carrier.  It  is  only  in  highly  civilized 
societies  that  man's  regard  for  woman  leads  him 
to  aid  in  bearing  the  burdens  he  formerly  imposed 
wholly  upon  her.  His  savage  nature  inclines  him 
to  make  her  his  servant,  and  as  a  savage  he  is  an 
exacting  taskmaster,  requiring  docile  obedience 
and  such  exertion  on  her  part  as  may  be  necessary 
to  supply  his  wants.  But  while  women  are  the  bur- 
den-bearers of  primitive  ages,  their  methods  of 
carriage  differ.  Whatever  the  method  may  be, 
however,  it  is  followed  as  rigidly  as  the  fashions 
M.  Worth  was  in  the  habit  of  imposing  upon  soci- 
ety women.  But  local  conditions  have  much  more 
to  do  in  determining  methods  of  carriage  among 
savages  than  they  have  had  in  shaping  Paris  fash- 
ions. Thus,  in  carrying  children,  they  are  borne 
high  or  low  on  the  back,  as  best  facilitates  the 
mother's  convenience.  This  is  true  also  of  other 
burdens.  The  receptacle  in  which  the  child  is 
carried  is  also  determined  by  local  surroundings. 

(47) 


4:8  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.    .  49 

In  one  case  it  is  the  loop  of  a  blanket;  in  another, 
a  grass  sack;  in  another  a  basket;  in  another,  a 
receptacle  of  bark. 

Transportation  among  the  ancients  was  not 
noticeably  different  from  primitive  carriage 
among  the  semi-barbarians  of  the  present  time. 
The  accompanying  illustrations  picture  the  pro- 
gressive steps  from  the  human  beast  of  burden 
to  the  locomotive  of  the  present  day;  not  only 
the  successive  stages  of  evolution,  it  may  be 
said,  but  the  multitudinous  devices  of  widely 
separated  peoples. 

The  creation  of  roads,  like  most  useful  things, 
was  not  premeditated.  Successive  footsteps 
formed  the  first  path.  While  these  were  acci- 
dental, they  followed  the  most  convenient  route, 
adapting  themselves  naturally  to  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  ground,  with  a  view,  so  far  as  practi- 
cable, to  the  saving  of  time  and  labor.  They 
were,  in  the  main,  directed  to  the  hunting  and 
fishing  grounds  of  the  clan,  or  the  rude  huts  of 
neighboring  villages.  These  paths  became  in 
after  ages  the  highways  of  civilized  peoples.  We 
still  traverse  them;  they  are  the  natural  high- 
ways of  the  world. 

The  origin  of  ancient  forms  of  carriage  is  lost 
in  the  darkness  of  the  prehistoric  age.  We  can 
only  conjecture  its  occurrence.  It  was  probably 
quite  as  accidental  as  that  of  the  rude  paths  of 
the  savages.  When  man  threw  the  first  burden 
off  his  own  shoulder  on  to  that  of  the  cow,  the 

4-    Vol.  11 


50 


.   ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


OF  TRANSPORTATION. 


51 


secret  of  carriage  was  evolved;  the  transfer  was 
final.  Countless  ages,  however,  must  have  pre- 
ceded this.  Afterward  rude  vehicles  were  in- 
vented. One  of  the  first  devices  of  this  kind  was 
a  roughly-hewn  plank,  drawn  on  the  ground.  The 
method  of  transporting  goods  practiced  by  the 
North  American  Indians  was  an- 
other form.  It  consisted  simply  of 
two  poles  tied  on  either 
side  of  an  animator  over 
the  shoulder  of  a  wom- 
an, the  opposite  ends 
trailing  on  the  ground. 
The  paths 
traversed  by 
the  savages 
of  primi- 
tive times 
would  not 
permit 

anything  more  elaborate.  In  the  course  of  time 
two  or  more  planks  were  combined,  thus  forming 
a  rude  sledge.  Afterward  the  idea  of  rollers  sug- 


gested  itself.    These  were  the  precursors  of  the 
wheel  and  the  cart.    This  last,  when  introduced, 


52 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


was  formed  wholly  of  wood,  and  was,  as  may  be 
imagined,  exceedingly  rude.  The  axle  and  wheel 
consisted  of  one  piece  and  revolved  together. 

Naturally  the  cart 
was  the  precursor 
of  the  wagon.  Its 
introduction  was 
the  first  great  step 
in  the  art  of  trans- 
portation. Its  evo- 
lution has  marked 
the  progress  of  man  in  culture.  The  idea  of  mak- 
ing the  axle  and  wheel  apart  was  the  second 
great  step.  No  greater  discovery,, it  is  probable, 
has  ever  been  made  in  the  art  of  carriage. 
Afterward  followed  the  felloe  and  spoke.  The 
railway  carriage  of  to-day  was  thus  evolved; 
we  have  simply  improved  upon  our  forefathers' 
methods. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  land  carriage.  That  by 
water  was  equally  simple.  Floating  driftwood 
suggested  the  canoe  rudely  hollowed  with  fire, 
afterward  with  stone  implements.  A  limb  served 

t o  propel 
and  guide. 
This  latter, 
became,  i  n 
time,  an  oar. 
The  sail  fol- 
lowed, but  long  afterwards.  As  late  as  the  time 
of  the  Phoenicians  the  rudder  had  not  yet  been 
invented. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  53 

The  development  of  carriage,  it  will  thus  be 
seen,  was  exceedingly  slow.  Each  progressive 
step  occupied  vast  cycles  of  time.  Savages  ad- 
vance slowly;  their  brains  as  well  as  their  morals 
must  be  developed;  at  first  both  are  merely  em- 
bryotic.  The  first  step  is  always  the  difficult  one; 
it  suggests  reflection,  and  this  in  turn  precipitates 
other  ideas.  Each  discovery  renders  succeeding 
ones  easier. 

The  forms  of  primitive  transportation  still  in 
use  in  various  parts  of  the  world  indicate  sub- 
stantially the  processes  of  olden  times,  but  it  is 
only  in  some  parts  of  Africa  and  in  Polynesia 
and  other  savage  countries  that  the  human  being 
is  still  the  only  means  of  carriage.  Elsewhere 
animals  have  been  conquered  and  trained  to  per- 
form such  work. 

Illustrations  of  primitive  transportation  evince 
a  general  similarity  of  growth  in  man.  The  dif- 
ferences in  methods  of  carriage  illustrate  a  char- 
acteristic of  men  no  two  of  whom  ever  look,  think 
or  act  exactly  alike.  This  peculiarity  of  every 
assemblage  of  men  has  its  counterpart  in  aggre- 
gate man.  Thus  the  ideas  and  methods  of  par- 
ticular tribes  differ  from  other  tribes.  In  all  the 
forms  of  carriage,  by  water  or  land,  the  devices 
of  no  two  peoples  are  exactly  alike.  Each  con- 
forms to  some  inherent  peculiarity  or  environ- 
ment of  the  people  who  invent  it.  And  so,  while 
we  are  able  to  trace  the  growth  of  vehicles 
among  the  early  Aryans,  it  is  probable  that  they 
partly  borrowed,  partly  invented.  No  perfected 


54  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

thing  can  be  claimed  as  the  sole  thought  of  a 
particular  individual.  The  suggestion,  or  some 
fragmentary  part  of  it,  came  from  some  one 
beyond. 

Where  the  wagon  was  first  introduced  we  do 
not  know.  The  Aryans,  however,  were  familiar 
with  the  linch  pin,  yoke,  pole,  wheel,  axle  and 
nave.  They  were  ignorant,  however,  of  the  spoke 
and  felloe;  these  had  not  yet  been  created.  The 
Aryans  undoubtedly  aided  in  fashioning  the  wag- 
on, as  the  word  is  a  part  of  their  language  and  no 
reference  to  it  is  found  elsewhere.  This  reference 
suggests  the  oft  repeated  enquiries:  Who  were 
these  primitive  people  whom  we  strive  in  vain 
through  the  gathering  mists  of  the  past  to  locate? 
From  whence  came  this  sturdy  race,  whose  de- 
scendants are  at  once  the  civilizers,  the  conquer- 
ors and  the  carriers  of  the  world?  No  one  as  yet 
has  been  able  to  answer  these  questions.  The 
birth  place  or  original  home  of  the  Aryan  remains 
still  a  mystery,  forming  an  endless  theme  for 
scholars  and  disputants:  they  have  placed  it  in 
Russia;  in  Central  Europe;  on  the  far  off  Ganges; 
amid  the  high  altitudes  of  Central  Asia;  in  the 
Mesopotamian  valley;  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic. 
The  disputant  of  to-day  overthrows  the  theorist 
of  yesterday,  and  with  the  revolution  of  each  year 
we  commence  our  journey  anew.  The  discussion 
is,  however,  not  without  advantages:  it  stimu- 
lates interest  and  investigation.  Thus,  through 
the  delvings  of  archaeologists  and  the  deductions 
of  anthropologists  and  ethnologists,  coupled  with 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  55 

the  discoveries  of  philologists,  we  have  learned 
much  we  should  otherwise  have  been  left  in  ig- 
norance of  in  regard  to  neolithic  men,  except  for 
the  interest  of  all  in  regard  to  our  primitive  fore- 
fathers. From  the  strivings  of  savants  we  have 
thus  become  familiar  with  the  brachycephalous 
(broad-headed,  yellow  men),  the  dolichocephalous 
(dark,  long-headed  men)  and  the  orthocephalous, 
or  intermediate  men  of  ancient  times.  Scholars 
have  undertaken  to  explore  for  us  the  abysmal 
gulf  which  separates  our  ancestors  from  the  early 
races.  That  the  information  they  impart  is  often- 
times defective  we  must  admit,  but  that  it  is 
stinted  we  may  quite  as  confidently  deny.  How- 
ever, we  are  grateful,  and  in  no  case  critical. 

The  people  of  whom  traces  are  first  found  are, 
it  is  agreed,  ascribed  to  the  palaeolithic  age. 
They  lived  in  caves  and  were  contemporaneous 
with  the  mammoth,  the  woolly  rhinoceros  and 
other  pachyderms.  England  was  still  connected 
by  land  with  the  continent  of  Europe.  Craniolo- 
gists  believe  the  people  of  that  remote  age  were 
the  progenitors  of  those  who  inhabit  Europe  to- 
day, because  the  dimensions  of  their  skulls  were 
substantially  the  same.  Thus,  during  this  long 
period  man's  natural  capacity  has  not  changed. 

The  implements  of  the  Aryans,  whom  we  claim 
as  our  progenitors,  were  those  of  the  Neolithic 
period.  The  race  is  believed  to  have  been  bra- 
chycephalous: a  tall,  powerful,  muscular,  blonde 
people.  In  England  it  succeeded  the  dolicho- 
cephalous race,  a  short,  feeble,  servile,  dark  peo- 


56  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

pie,  called  Iberians.  These  were  thought  to  have 
been  an  Atlantic  or  Mediterranean  race,  the  same 
as  the  Berbers  and  Egyptians  of  northern  Africa. 
But  while  much  has  been  accurately  determined 
in  regard  to  the  Aryans,  we  have  learned  nothing 
definitely  in  regard  to  the  location  of  their  primi- 
tive home,  and  except  for  the  circumstance  of 
their  separation  into  different  tribes  and  their 
wide  separation  from  each  other  afterwards,  we 
should  know  nothing  of  the  habits  of  mankind  in 
the  Neolithic  age.  But  it  was  just  at  that  period 
the  Aryans  separated,  or  at  least  ceased  to  speak 
a  common  language.  What  is  still  common  to 
the  races  who  once  spoke  the  Aryan  language  be- 
fore their  separation  from  the  parent  stem  indi- 
cates the  customs  of  the  people  prior  to  that 
time.  Thus  we  are  accidentally  afforded  a 
glimpse  of  prehistoric  man  exceedingly  interest- 
ing to  every  one. 

It  may  not  be  that  all  those  who  spoke  the 
Aryan  language  belonged  to  the  same  race,  but 
that  they  occupied  contiguous  territory  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  The  language  was  the  inception  of 
a  particular  people,  but  may  have  been  imposed 
upon  various  races  or  tribes  having  substantially 
the  same  anthropological  peculiarities,  but  differ- 
ing in  social  relations.  When  the  Aryans  sepa- 
rated, linguistic  peculiarities,  the  result  partly  of 
environment  and  partly  of  evolution,  made  them- 
selves felt  in  their  new  homes. 

The  Aryan  language,  it  is  probable,  was  more 
copious  than  any  other  of  its  time.  Quite  likely 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  57 

it  was  superimposed  upon  surrounding  savages 
who  before  possessed  only  rudimentary  forms  of 
speech.  If  so,  it  would  have  been  accepted  grate- 
fully and  without  antagonism.  It  is  also  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  a  people  who  could  thus 
dominate  their  neighbors  must  have  possessed 
methods  and  culture,  and  bodily  vigor,  superior 
to  those  about  them.  While  the  Aryans  are  no 
longer  generally  believed  to  have  migrated  from 
the  high  lands  of  Central  Asia,  their  language 
is  thought  to  be  of  Mongolian  origin;  to  have 
had  its  germ  among  the  cultivated  people  of 
Asia.  However,  this  is  only  a  surmise.  The  dia- 
lects that  once  connected  all  who  spoke  the 
Aryan  language  have  one  by  one  been  extin- 
guished, and  the  thread  which  might  have  served 
to  identify  the  true  Aryan  people  has  thus  been 
lost. 

The  Aryans,  like  their  descendants,  possessed 
the  most  exalted  attributes — courage,  aggres- 
siveness, executive  talent — above  all  enormous 
ability  to  grow.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the 
intrusive  yellow,  Turanian  race,  originated  the 
Aryan  language  only  to  be  subsequently  over- 
thrown by  the  native  population.  This  has  been 
the  experience  of  that  race, — to  plant  the  seeds 
of  advanced  culture,  to  succumb  afterward  to  the 
dominant  white  race. 

While  the  Aryans  may  have  been  made  up  of 
different  races,  the  virility,  courage  and  capacity 
for  development  they  have  displayed  in  common, 
evince  certain  homogeneous  qualities  of  a  high 


58  JORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

order  that  have  made  them  the  conquering  race 
of  the  world. 

The  earliest  prehistoric  man  of  whom  we  have 
any  definite  knowledge,  as  pointed  out,  belonged 
to  the  palaeolithic  age.  His  weapons  were  flakes 
of  stone  roughly  chipped.  This  age  preceded  and 
attended  the  glacial  epoch  which  geologists  have 
claimed  commenced  two  hundred  and  forty  thou- 
sand years  ago  and  lasted  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  years.* 

The  evidences  of  man's  existence  during  and 
preceding  the  glacial  epoch  are  unmistakable. 
The  only  progress  man  seems  to  have  made  from 
the  palaeolithic  age  to  the  neolithic  epoch  was  to 
substitute  polished  for  roughly  chipped  stone  im- 
plements and  weapons.  We  have  no  clew  what- 
ever to  the  ages  that  occurred  before  he  learned 
the  use  or  value  of  words,  the  utility  of  fire*,  the 
construction  and  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow,  cloth- 
ing, the  dugout  and  wagon.  Nor  are  we  able  to 
compute  the  ages  that  led  up  to  the  art  of  plaiting 
and  weaving,  to  the  construction  of  axes  and 

*  More  or  less  diversity  of  opinion,  however,  exists  as  to  the 
duration  of  the  glacial  period  and  the  time  when  it  occurred. 
The  latter  is  of  great  importance  as  indicating  the  progress 
made  by  mankind  since*  that  event,  as  all  the  indications  denote 
that  man  immediately  subsequent  to  that  period  possessed  only 
rudimentary  acquirements.  Many  astronomers  and  geologists 
now  set  the  close  of  the  glacial  period  no  farther  back  than  ten 
thousand  years.  If  this  view  is  correct,  it  explains  the  slight 
changes  in  the  physique  of  man  and  in  the  flora  and  fauna  of 
the  world  since  that  period.  It  does  not,  however,  in  any  way 
discredit  the  social  evolution  of  man,  but  it  proves  it  to  have 
Aeen  more  rapid  than  we  would  otherwise  have  supposed. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  59 

lances,  the  domestication  of  the  cow,  the  dog, 
sheep  and  goat,  the  ceremony  of  marriage  and 
the  systematic  burial  of  the  dead.  Each  of  these, 
however,  was  an  invention  greater  than  any  of 
our  time  because  it  was  the  emanation  of  savages 
without  method  or  reflective  powers, — a  genuine 
inspiration,  and  not  the  result  of  suggestion  as  in 
our  age  of  evolution  and  culture. 

Language  like  other  inventions,  was  of  slow 
growth.  At  first  a  sound  oft  repeated  within  the 
limits  of  the  horde  or  clan  (in  connection  with 
some  particular  phase  of  savage  life)  became 
familiar  to  all,  and  in  this  way  acquired  the  force 
of  a  well  understood  signal.*  Thus  a  word  was 
formed  without  those  who  used  it  being  conscious 
of  the  fact.  It  was  like  the  lowing  of  an  ox  or 
the  bleating  of  a  sheep  and  had,  similarly,  a  defi- 
nite meaning.  In  time  it  became  perfected  and 
beautified  by  constant  usage.  Other  words,  one 
by  one,  sprang  into  existence  similarly.  Thus 
from  a  single  savage  gutteral  our  language  sprang. 
It  was  thus,  the  Aryan  language  originated,  but 
superior  capacity  upon  their  part  made  it  more 
copious  than  that  of  surrounding  peoples. 

The  evolution  of  man  is  always  the  same  under 
natural  conditions,  but  progresses  rapidly  or 
otherwise  according  to  natural  capacity  and  en- 
vironment. Language  could  not  have  originated 
in  any  other  way  than  that  described.  In  saying, 
however,  that  it  arose  within  a  horde  or  clan,  the 
meaning  is  not  to  be  taken  literally.  It  is  possi- 

*  Monkeys  and  other  animals  have  such  signals. 


60  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

ble  that  before  such  ethnic  divisions  among  men 
certain  rudimentary  sounds  may  have  acquired 
the  force  of  words,  just  as  is  the  case  to-day  with 
monkeys.  At  what  period  in  their  evolution 
men  first  began  to  form  into  groups  or  societies 
we  have  no  means  of  telling.  But  that  this 
occurred  at  a  late  period  we  may  reasonably 
suppose.  Prior  to  such  time  men  and  women 
mated  and  lived  apart  like  wild  animals,  as 
they  do  to-day  in  the  impenetrable  forests  of 
Borneo. 

If  mankind  did  not  spring  from  a  common 
father  and  mother,  then  we  might  the  more 
readily  understand  how  it  came  about  that  there 
should  be  different  languages.  But  such  an  hy- 
pothesis is  not  necessary.  The  immense  lapse 
of  time  and  wide  dispersion  of  mankind,  during 
which  primary  objects  were  given  definite  names, 
would  inevitably  bring  about  the  growth  of  dif- 
ferent languages.  But  even  in  the  case  of  a 
particular  tribe  speaking  a  common  language, 
philological  changes  would  commence  the 
moment  those  who  used  it  no  longer  lived  under 
the  same  roof.  Afterward,  dialectic  changes 
would  be  interspersed  with  words  borrowed  from 
neighboring  peoples.  Thus  differentiation  of 
languages  would  arise.  But  as  its  progress 
would  be  variable,  we  are  thus  unable  to  deter- 
mine, even  approximately,  what  length  of  time 
the  differentiation  of  the  Aryan  language,  since 
the  dispersion  of  those  who  at  one  time  used 
it  in  common,  has  required. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  61 

The  dispersion  of  the  Aryans  is  believed  to 
have  occurred  during  or  immediately  subsequent 
to  the  Neolithic  age,  as  the  objects  peculiar  to 
that  period  conform  to  those  they  possessed,  as 
indicated  by  their  language.  However,  the  ques- 
tion is  not  yet  determined.  Each  year  adds 
something  to  our  knowledge,  but  what  the  future 
has  in  store  for  us  we  can  only  surmise.  We  are 
grateful,  however,  for  any  fragment,  no  matter 
how  trifling.  The  immortal  race  that  has  given 
the  world  its  impetus  and  developed  its  highest 
civilization,  government,  commerce  and  trade, 
will  ever  claim  the  kindly  interest  of  mankind. 

When  we  catch  our  first  glimpse  of  the  Aryan 
people  they  are  pure  savages — a  virile,  meat-eat- 
ing horde  of  barbarians.  The  skins  of  animals 
served  for  clothing.  Their  hair  was  long  and  un- 
kempt. They  did  not  shave.  They  were  not 
cleanly.  The  sweat  that  exuded  from  their  bodies 
kept  their  skin  wholesome  if  not  sweet.  They 
knew  no  other  bath.  Their  instincts  and  habits 
were  little  above  those  of  common  animals. 
They  were  slow  to  learn  the  art  of  cooking  or 
the  uses  of  the  spit.  They  did  not  know  how  to 
boil  meat.  They  esteemed  the  marrow  of  bones 
the  greatest  of  dainties.  They  were  pastoral  in 
habit.  They  lived  on  the  milk  and  flesh  of  their 
herds,  game,  fruits,  nuts  and  succulent  roots. 
They  computed  time  by  the  revolutions  of  the 
moon.  The  months  had  not  yet  been  given 
names,  nor  had  the  day  been  divided  into  hours. 
They  had  a  name  for  the  night,  but  none  for  the 


62  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

day.  Superstitious,  like  all  savages,  they  offered 
up  human  sacrifices,  although  domestic  animals 
were  esteemed  acceptable.  They  were  hunters 
but  killed,  not  as  we  for  pleasure,  but  to  protect 
their  lives  and  herds.  Hunting  became  a  pastime 
only  when  game  became  scarce. 

In  the  beginning  man  was  dominated  by  wild 
animals.  While  he  viewed  the  great  beasts  of 
prey  with  apprehension,  their  prowess  caused 
him  to  look  upon  them  as  superior  beings.*  He 
was  especially  impressed  with  things  that  oc- 
curred out  of  the  regular  order,  such  as  the  fall 
of  a  meteoric  stone,  a  shooting  star,  an  eclipse, 
and  kindred  phenomena.  To  all  such  things  he 
attached  a  fictitious  importance.  In  each  he 
believed  himself  to  have  a  personal  interest. 

Many  ages  elapsed  before  man  possessed  a 
weapon  with  which  to  combat  the  beasts  that 
surrounded  him.  A  club  was  the  first  that  sug-^ 
gested  itself.  This  was  the  weapon  of  the  savage 
Hercules. 

Originally  man  was  not  more  cultured  than 
the  chimpanzee.  He,  however,  possessed  latent 
powers  apparently  denied  the  latter.  Out  of  his 
necessities  grew  the  bow  and  arrow,  hammer, 
axe,  sling,  knife.  All  these  things  were  known 
to  the  Aryans.  They,. little  by  little,  acquired 
constructive  habits.  While  they  used  the  fur  of 
wild  animals  for  clothing  and  bedding,  they  do 

*  The  fact  that  primeval  man  did  not  claim  superiority  over 
the  animals  is  evinced  in  the  fact  that  in  many  countries  they 
were  worshiped  by  him. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  63 

• 

not  seem  to  have  relished  their  flesh.  They  did 
not  use  fish.  Cereals  were  unknown;  these  fol- 
lowed later  in  the  train  of  agriculture  and  the 
refined  tastes  it  engendered.  Where,  however, 
cereals  were  indigenous,  as  millet  and  wheat  in 
Mesopotamia,  they  were  used. 

The  implements  of  the  Aryans  were  made  of 
wood,  stone,  flint  and  bone;  their  arrows  were 
tipped  with  the  latter.  They  used  stone  scrapers 
for  removing  the  hair  from  hides.  Metals  were 
still  unknown;  men  were  slow  to  discover  and 
utilize  them.  The  milk  of  both  the  cow  and 
goat  was  relished.  They  did  not  know  how  to 
utilize  the  horse,  pig,  or  fowl,  if,  indeed,  they  had 
any  knowledge  of  them.  The  art  of  making  but- 
ter was  unknown,  though  a  species  of  curd  was 
used  which  resembled  cheese.  The  fatty  sub- 
stances of  milk  were  used  to  smear  the  hair  and 
anoint  the  body.  Whether  the  use  of  salt  was 
known  is  doubtful;  no  reference  regarding  it  is 
found.  The  "Aryans  craved  stimulants  and  were 
much  given  to  drunkenness.  They  fermented 
liquors  from  roots,  plants,  wild  fruits  and  honey. 
They  knew  nothing  of  beer  or  wine.  Man,  it  is 
apparent,  has  been  a  drunkard  from  the  start. 
As  a  savage  he  was  a  hardy,  arbitrary,  suspicious, 
tyrannical,  drunken  brute.  Countless  ages  have 
served  to  modify  these  traits,  but  not  to  wholly 
eradicate  them. 

The  use  of  clothing  was  originally,  like  every- 
thing else,  a  discovery.  It  was  at  first  scant  and 
made  of  the  untanned  skins  of  animals.  The 


64  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

garment  was  thrown  over  the  shoulders  like  a 
mantle.  It  was  not  sewed  nor  stitched,  but  fas- 
tened with  a  thorn.  The  use  of  the  needle  and 
thread  was  a  later  discovery.  The  first  needle 
was  made  of  bone.  Hides  continued  to  be  used 
for  clothing  down  to  a  very  late  period.  When 
abandoned  by  the  higher  classes,  they  were  still 
worn  by  shepherds  and  slaves.  Man  early  learned 
the  art  of  tanning.  The  Aryans  knew  how  to 
make  a  species  of  felt  by  kneading  wool  together 
and  pressing  it.  They  had  also  learned  the  use 
and  value  of  flax;  it  was  spun  and  woven  by 
them.  The  first  manufactured  garments  were 
plaited.  Garments  were  made  to  conform  to  the 
shape  of  the  hides  previously  worn,  just  as  the 
utensils  of  the  bronze  age  took  the  shape  of  those 
of  the  palaeolithic  and  neolithic  ages.  It  is 
thought  weaving  was  first  suggested  by  braiding; 
and  spinning  by  weaving.  Men  and  women  wore 
similar  garments.  In  wrapping  them  about  their 
bodies  the  fore  and  upper  arm  w£re  left  bare. 
This  exposure,  in  the  case  of  women,  conduced 
greatly  to  matrimonial  reflections,  just  as  the 
practice  among  the  Spartans  of  exposing  their 
maidens  naked  on  festal  days  inflamed  the  ardor 
of  the  young  Lacedaemonians.  Tattooing  of  the 
body  was  common  with  the  Aryans.  The  loin 
cloth  was  unknown  to  them.  That  was  an 
after- thought  and  indicative  of  growing  effemi- 
nacy. It  is  believed  to  have  'suggested  the  use 
of  trousers.  Primitive  man  covered  his  feet 
and  head,  when  he  covered  them  at  all,  with 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  65 

untanned  skins  rendered  pliable  by  manipula- 
tion. His  ornaments  consisted  of  the  bones  of 
enemies,  copper  trinkets,  shells,  feathers  and 
similar  devices. 

Man  has  been  vain  and,  to  a  certain  extent, 
frivolous,  from  the  first.  He  wore  ornaments  be- 
fore he  did  clothes!  The  dress  of  civilized  peoples 
ever  represents  their  stage  of  culture.  Save  the 
primary  purpose  of  warmth,  elaboration  of  dress 
denotes  progress  in  taste.  While  the  first  object 
was  protection,  enormous  importance  has  always 
attached  to  ornamentation.  Men  do  not  take 
kindly  to  civilized  dress.  The  savages  that  were 
overcome  by  the  Romans  are  said  to  have  thrown 
off  the  gorgeous  habiliments  given  them  when  no 
longer  in  the  presence  of  their  conquerors. 

The  cultivation  of  dress  finds  its  counterpart  in 
many  other  things  which  civilized  peoples  con- 
sider fundamental.  Thus,  they  attach  great 
importance  to  family  names.  This  is  wholly  a 
cultivated  feeling.  Semi-civilized  peoples  change 
their  names  oftentimes  more  frequently  than 
their  clothes.  Thus,  semi-civilized  negroes  have 
been  known  to  have  as  many  different  names  as 
there  are  days  in  the  month.  When  men  become 
civilized,  they  restrict  themselves  to  one,  and  this 
they  endeavor  to  transmit.  The  great  diversity 
>f  names  that  exists  is  the  result  of  the  changes 
md  fancies  of  semi-barbarians. 

The  Aryans  understood  the  art  of  pottery  and 
the  use  of  the  potter's  wheel.  Like  all  other 
primitive  people,  they  were  originally  troglo- 

5    Vol.  II 


66  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

dytes — cave  dwellers.  Where  natural  caves  were 
not  to  be  found  they  dug  holes  in  the  ground  for 
dwellings,  ascending  and  descending  by  ladder; 
similar  shelter  was  provided  for  their  animals,  a 
shaft  or  incline  being  used  for  ingress  and  egress. 
Afterward  they  lived  in  rude  huts  on  the  ground, 
made  of  wood  and  loam,  but  more  often  of 
grasses,  twigs,  rushes  and  willows.  The  houses 
were  round  or  tent  shaped  and  had  doors.  Win- 
dows and  chimneys  are  comparatively  modern 
inventions.  The  fire  was  kindled  in  the  center 
of  the  room,  the  smoke  finding  an  outlet  through 
a  hole  in  the  roof  or  open  door.  The  dwelling 
was  occupied  by  the  family  and  domestic  animals 
in  common.  The  Aryans,  like  many  nomadic 
people,  oftentimes  used  their  wagons  for  houses. 
Thus  they  were  able  to  move  from  place  to  place 
as  interest  or  inclination  prompted.  This  facility 
is  believed  to  have  greatly  prolonged  their  no- 
madic or  semi-barbarous  state. 

The  Aryans  differed  from  those  about  them, 
just  as  we  do  from  those  about  us.  Courageous 
and  warlike,  they  were  also  property  lovers,  at 
once  industrious,  thrifty  and  capable.  They  knew 
how  to  construct  and  to  utilize.  Their  inventions 
were  few  and  simple,  those  of  children,  but  con- 
tained the  germ  of  permanently  useful  things. 
To  them,  we  may  believe,  early  occurred  the  idea 
of  transferring  the  packs  they  carried  to  the  backs 
of  the  brute  creation.  This  was  a  relief,  but  in- 
adequate. The  back  of  the  cow  was  neither 
broad  enough  nor  strong  enough,  and  this  was 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  67 

the  only  animal  available;  the  horse  had  not  yet 
been  domesticated.  The  outcome  of  their  neces- 
sities was  the  cart. 

The  only  civil  institution  the  Aryans  possessed 
was  that  of  marriage;  they  acquired  their  wives 
by  capture  or  purchase.  Punishment  for  murder 
was  meted  out  by  the  nearest  blood  relation  or 
the  village,  but  theft  was  esteemed  more  serious 
than  murder,  as  it  is  among  all  savage  or  semi- 
barbarous  peoples.  It  was  punished  by  death  or 
banishment. 

Before  the  Aryans  separated  the  family  had 
been  created.  It  resembled  a  clan.  It  was  made 
up  of  the  master,  his  wives,  children  and  descend- 
ants and  collateral  relatives  and  slaves.  It  formed 
a  community  banded  together  to  aid,  protect  and 
avenge  each  other.  How  far  various  organiza- 
tions were  able  to  unite  for  common  ends  is  not 
known.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  their  rela- 
tions were  slight.  This  is  indicated  by  their  wide 
separation  afterward.  It  was  as  families  or  clans, 
rather  than  tribes,  that  they  are  thought  to  have 
parted.  Thus  the  Aryan  clans  that  made  up  the 
Greek  nation  never  had  anything  in  common 
except  their  religion  and  language. 

The  family  relations  of  the  Aryans  were  those 
of  savages — but  had  passed  the  period  of  pro- 
miscuity; they  were  more  or  less  polygamous.  Pri- 
vate property  was  recognized  in  portable  things; 
land,  however,  was  held  in  common.  Slavery 
existed.  Wives  were  the  servants  of  the  master. 
It  was  woman's  value  in  this  direction  partly, 


68  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

and  partly  man's  desire  to  own  exclusively, 
that  suggested  marriage  to  him,  as  already 
pointed  out.  Promiscuity  being  a  normal  condi- 
tion, man  in  his  primordial  state  did  not  seek 
woman  to  satisfy  merely  animal  desires,  but  as 
property,  just  as  the  grocery  man  seeks  a  horse  to 
distribute  his  goods,  or  the  breeder  buys  a  mare 
to  increase  his  herd.  Among  the  Aryans  she  was 
not  called  wife,  but  the  breeder  of  children.  The 
husband's  title  was  that  of  housemaster— a  per- 
son to  be  obeyed.  More  or  less  ceremony  at- 
tended marriage.  The  wife  abandoned  her  fam- 
ily when  she  came  to  him.  The  number  of  wives 
a  man  might  have  was  limited  only  by  his  ability 
to  support  and  defend.  Whenever  he  needed  an- 
other servant  to  look  after  his  affairs,  or  his  riches 
permitted,  he  married  another  wife.  His. wives 
and  children  constituted  his  wealth  as  much  as 
his  flocks.  If  a  wife  was  unable  to  bear  children, 
he  was  at  liberty  to  put  her-  away:  If  the  fault 
was  his,  he  could  choose  some  one. to  act  for  him. 
This  act  of  substitution  was  not  considered  dis- 
graceful; it  was  analogous  to  a  farmer  in  our 
time  borrowing  seed-corn  of  a  neighbor.  Woman 
was  simply  a  servant  and  breeder  of  men.  Wives 
held  promiscuous  intercourse  with  their  hus- 
band's relatives,  but  outside  of  this  adultery  was 
punishable  with  death;  not  because  it  was  thought 
to  be  wrong,  but  because  it  was  an  infringement 
of  the  husband's  property  rights. 

The  primitive  relations  of  man  and  wife  con- 
tinued among  the  descendants  of  the  Aryans  into 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  69 

historic  times;  they  still  prevail  in  all  savage 
countries.  The  father  had  the  right  to  expose 
his  child  or  put  it  to  death.  This  privilege  was 
rarely  exercised  in  the  case  of  sons,  but  frequently 
in  the  case  of  daughters.  The  latter  were  looked 
upon  as  iricumbrances  as  they  are  to-day  in  China, 
where  it  is  a  common  practice  to  expose  them  by 
the  wayside  to  die.  Moreover,  the  destruction  of 
girls  rendered  those  who  remained  more  valuable; 
husbands  were  thus  compelled  to  pay  higher 
prices;  fathers  got  more-.  Women  do  not  seem 
to  have  viewed  their  barter  with  abhorrence.  The 
greater  the  price  the  woman  brought,  the  greater 
the  honor;  to  be  given  away  was  the  greatest 
social  degradation  that  could  befall  her. 

In  primitive  societies  the  husband  possesses 
power  of  life  and  death  over  his  wife  and  the 
custom  of  putting  her  to  death  with  other  attend- 
ants when  the  husband  dies  is  not,  as  suggested 
elsewhere,  so  much  a  superstition,  as  a  device  to 
assure  his  safety  while  on  earth. 

While  promiscuity  was  not  universal  among 
the  Aryans,  it  was  still  sufficient  to  preclude 
identification  of  parents  except  on  the  mother's 
side.  Men  therefore  continued  to  trace  their  re- 
lationship through  the  latter.  Children,  however, 
regarded  their  parents  with  little  affection.  Their 
love  was  cold,  as  with  animals,  and  when  the 
parents  grew  old  they  were  looked  upon  as  some- 
thing to  be  got  out  of  the  way,  so  that  their 
property  might  be  enjoyed  and  the  expense  of 

laintenance   avoided.     They  were  called   "the 


70  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

old  ones,"  and  the  custom  of  killing  them  was 
practiced  more  or  less  down  to  historic  times. 

In  the  first  instance  man  divided  the  year  into 
two  periods,  summer  and  winter — the  seasons  of 
warmth  and  cold.  More  minute  divisions  of  time 
were  regulated  by  the  mcton.  The  moon  was 
esteemed  jnore  highly  than  the  sun  because  it  lit 
up  the  night  —  the  night  which  man  dreaded, 
which  brought  so  many  dangers,  real  and  im- 
aginary. This  was  one  reason  why  he  esteemed 
fire  so  greatly.  It  kept  off  the  wild  beasts,  drove 
away  the  evil  spirits,  and  exposed  the  machina- 
tions of  robbers.  Men  spoke  of  nights  rather 
than  days.  The  Greek  day  commenced  at  sunset; 
the  Roman  at  midnight.* 

In  primeval  times  men  respected  only  the  lives 
and  interests  of  those  who  belonged  to  their  own 
tribe;  all  others  were  enemies,  to  be  robbed, 
enslaved  or  killed,  as  opportunity  offered.  An 
exception,  however,  was  made  in  the  case  of  beg- 
gars and  suppliants.  These  were  thought  to  be 
protected  by  the  gods  and  were,  consequently, 
highly  esteemed. 

Christianity  first  taught  men  universal  charity, 
tolerance  and  brotherly  love. 

When  men  had  progressed  in  the  art  of  gov- 
ernment and  their  wants  had  become  more  gen- 
eral, neighboring  tribes  mitigated  somewhat  their 
savage  relations.  The  truce  was  not,  however, 

*  The  custom  of  the  Romans  in  this  respect,  also  in  respect 
to  their  division  of  the  year,  was  gradually  adopted  by  the 
civilized  world. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  71 

based  on  the  idea  that  robbery  and  murder  were 
wrong,  or  that  peace  was,  in  itself,  desirable.  But 
continual  warfare  was  inconvenient  and  its  results 
doubtful.  Moreover,  it  rendered  exchanges,  bar- 
tering, impossible,  and  man  has  always  had  the 
disposition  of  a  trader.  It  grew  out  of  his  desire 
to  better  himself.  At  first  his  ventures  in  this 
direction  were  confined  to  his  own  clan  or  tribe. 
Outside  of  this  they  were  very  restricted  and  con- 
ducted with  much  difficulty.  Afterward  to  facil- 
itate trade  between  alien  tribes  influential  men 
belonging  to  different  communities,  and  there- 
fore enemies,  were  sometimes  permitted  to 
visit  at  each  other's  hearths  and  exchange  their 
wares.  Visitors  under  such  circumstances  were 
held  sacred,  and  acquaintances  thus  formed  were 
termed  "guest  friendships."  Friendship,  how- 
ever, had  primarily  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
although  friendships  grew  out  of  the  custom.  It 
was  purely  a  matter  of  give  and  take,  as  cold  and 
calculating  as  the  visit  of  a  commercial  agent  of 
our  own  time.  The  conditions  which  attached 
to  such  visits  were  that  they  should  be  attended 
with  an  exchange  of  wares  mutually  desired, 
such  as  swords,  shields,  battle  axes,  bows,  arrows, 
caldrons,  tripods,  etc.  In  this  way  intercourse 
between  men  of  different  tribes  was  first  brought 
about.  Its  introduction  is  attributed  to  the  Phoe- 
nicians, but  it  was  probably  of  earlier  origin. 

In  later  times  trade  was  further  facilitated  by 
what  is  termed  "dumb  barter/'  Thus,  we  will 
say,  one  party  would  spread  out  their  wares  on 


72  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

the  sea  shore  or  river  bank,  and  retire,  building 
a  great  fire  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  natives. 
The  latter  would  then  come  forward  and,  after 
examining  the  goods,  spread  out  what  they  were 
willing  to  give  in  exchange.  They  would  then 
fall  back.  If,  on  returning,  the  first  party  were 
satisfied,  they  took  what  was  offered  and  went 
their  way."  If  not  satisfied,  they  retired  to  give 
the  other  party  further  opportunity  to  increase 
their  offer.  Good  faith  was  always  observed. 
Credit,  ability  to  trade,  then  as  now,  rested  on 
this.  Thus  commerce  originated.  The  next  step 
was  the  institution  of  the  fair — an  assemblage 
where  hostile  peoples  met  under  a  truce  at  some 
place  previously  agreed  upon  to  exhibit  their 
wares  and  make  exchanges.  The  fair  lasted 
usually  several  days.  Thus  the  first  market  was 
established.  Its  trade  corresponded  to  our 'im- 
ports and  exports.  Henceforward  man's  progress 
was  more  easy. 

Money  was  unknown  to  primeval  man.  Trade 
was  carried  on  by  barter — give  and  take.  The 
seller  in  every  transaction  was  also  a  buyer.  To 
a  people  of  the  pastoral  habits  of  the  Aryans, 
the  cow  became  naturally  the  unit  of  value.  With 
the  lapse  of  time  and  change  of  habitation  and 
mode  of  life,  it  gave  place  to  other  standards.* 
The  utilization  of  metals  for  purposes  of  exchange 
is  comparatively  recent.  Gold  has  existed  from 

*The  Chewsures  in  Russia  know  nothing  of  money;  their 
unit  of  valuation  is  the  cow.  They  value  a  horse  at  three  cows, 
a  stallion  at  six,  and  so  on. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  73 

prehistoric  times,  but  was  not  known  to  the 
Aryans.  Silver  is  of  later  origin,  but  still  pre- 
historic. It  was  at  one  time  more  highly 
esteemed  than  gold,  owing  to  the  limited  facili- 
ties of  the  ancients  for  procuring  it,  just  as 
iron,  in  its  turn,  was  more  highly  prized  than 
silver  for  a  similar  reason.  Iron  dates  from 
the  earliest  historic  period.  The  manufacture  of 
steel  (tempered  iron)  was  early  acquired.  Bronze 
(the  product  of  copper  and  tin)  is  supposed  to 
have  antedated  iron.  It  is  believed  that  the 
Chaldeans  first  diffused  the  knowledge  of  work- 
ing metals.  Certainly  the  art  seems  to  have  been 
familiar  to  them  long  before  we  discover  any 
trace  of  it  in  connection  with  the  people  who 
lived  to  the  westward. 

When  metals  came  to  be  used  as  a  basis  of  ex  • 
change,  they  were  weighed  in  bulk,  as  iron  and 
sugar  are  to-day.  Afterward,  specific  quantities 
were  manufactured  into  ingots  and  stamped  with 
their  weight.  This  stamp,  naturally  enough,  took 
the  shape  of  some  domestic  animal  with  which 
the  people  were  familiar,  such  as  the  ox,  bull, 
sheep,  and  so  on;  thus,  a  bar  of  copper  stamped 
with  the  image  of  a  cow  possessed  a  value  equal 
to  that  of  the  cow.  Later  the  stamp  of  the  reign- 
ing monarch  was  made  to  indicate  the  value  of 
the  token.  The  utilization  of  gold  and  silver  as  a 
circulating  medium  followed  copper.  The  latter 
metal  seems  to  have  been  known  from  a  very 
early  date.  The  Aryans  were  familiar  with  it, 
but  apparently  regarded  it  lightly.  The  early 


74  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

Greeks  possessed  the  art  of  hardening  copper  so 
as  to  use  it  for  swords,  spears,  axes,  etc. 

The  communal  sys^m  I  have  described  else- 
where as  attending  the  evolution  of  savages,  ex- 
isted among  the  Aryans  before  their  dispersion, 
in  regard  to  their  ownership  of  the  grazing  lands 
used  in  common.  Otherwise  than  this,  land  had 
no  value.  The  Aryans  were  peculiarly  ingenious 
for  a  primitive  people.  They  had  a  decimal  sys- 
tem running  up  to  a  hundred,  counted  Upon  their 
fingers,  and  a  foot,  span,  arm,  and  pace  were  their 
means  of  measuring.  These  divisions  remain  with 
us  to-day. 

Simple  and  primitive  as  were  their  customs, 
they  found  it  necessary  to  transport  articles  back 
arid  forth  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  community. 
They  accordingly  had  fixed  places  for  crossing 
rivers  and  mountains.  The  latter  were,  however, 
a  much  greater  impediment  to  them  than  the 
former.  A  chain  of  mountains  oftentimes,  in 
primitive  days,  stayed  the  progress  of  a  race  for 
generations. 

The  necessities  of  traffic  among  the  Aryan  peo- 
ple required  means  of  transportation.  This  want 
crystallized,  as  we  have  seen,  in  a  wagon  or  cart 
drawn  by  cattle.  The  horse  was  still  untamed, 
and  the  mule,  now  so  familiar  to  us,  first  made 
its  appearance  ages  afterward  on  the  southern 
shores  of  the  Black  Sea. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CARRIAGE  AMONG  THE  CHALDEANS,  THE  MOST  PRIMI- 
TIVE OF  PEOPLES.  THEIR  STRANGE  BELIEFS  AND 
CUSTOMS. 

The  religion  of  primeval  man  was  based  on 
natural  phenomena,  which  he  ascribed  to  super- 
natural causes.  The  religion  of  the  Aryans  con- 
sisted in  the  worship  of  natural  objects,  the  oak, 
the  brook,  the  mountain,  and  so  on.  They  be- 
lieved themselves  to  have  sprung  from  the  earth, 
the  trees,  and  the  rocks.  This  was  afterward 
the  belief  of  the  Greeks. 

In  studying  the  beginnings  of  religion,  that  of 
the  Shumiro-Accades,  who  in  many  respects  cor- 
responded to  the  Aryans,  is  interesting.  The 
magic  of  the  soothsayer  was  necessary  to  allay 
the  fantastic  superstitions  their  fears  conjured 
up.  Peculiarly  religious,  they  saw  going  on  about 
them  a  never  ending  contest  between  good  and 
bad — phenomena  they  were  totally  unable  to 
comprehend.  The  rain  that  benefited  them  they 
observed  flooded  their  fields;  the  sun  that  gave 
warmth  withered  with  its  heat;  the  wind  that 
tempered  the  sun's  rays  uprooted  the  crops;  light 
and  darkness,  summer  and  winter  were  antago- 
nistic spirits.  Each  and  every  one  of  these  they 
endowed  with  life.  They  believed  a  singular  in- 

(75) 


76  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

telligence  animated  all  creation.  The  earthquake, 
the  sun's  eclipse,  ij^e  sighing  of  the  winds,  the 
movement  of  flying  leaves,  the  flood,  the  tempest, 
every  incident  of  life,  was  fraught  with  joy  or  ill 
omen  to  them.  The  clouds  that  floated  across 
the  azure  vault  of  heaven  were  to  them  simply 
animals  feeding  on  its  broad  expanse  or  hurrying 
forward  before  the  coming  storm;  the  trees  they 
believed  to  be  sentient,  like  themselves;  the 
thunder  was  the  voice  of  an  unknown  deity; 
lightning,  a  premeditated  stroke;  the  wild  ani- 
mals that  preyed  upon  their  flocks,  insanity,  lep- 
rosy, blindness,  sickness,  death,  were  each  to  be 
traced  to  malign  influences  which,  to  be  warded 
off,  must  be  propitiated.  These  interesting  and 
primitive  people  believed  themselves  to  be 
surrounded  by  goblins,  demons,  phantoms,  appa- 
ritions, ghosts,  sorcerers  and  witches.  They 
attributed  fevers,  pestilence,  earthquakes,  floods, 
barren  women,  deformed  children,  family  dissen- 
sions, to  bad  spirits.  To  allay  these  and  other 
hosts  of  evil  they  employed  conjurers,  enchanters, 
magicians  and  soothsayers. 

They  believed  every  object  to  be  endowed 
with  intelligence,  sense  of  feeling,  the  faculty  of 
sight,  hearing,  good  and  bad  passions.  It  is 
probable  all  savages  have,  in  a  general  way,  like 
beliefs. 

The  art  of  medicine  was  not  known  to  the 
Chaldeans.  The  sick  and  distressed  sought  relief 
in  the  manipulations  of  conjurers  and  the  man- 
uals of  priests.  Talismans  were  common.  In  the 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  77 

course  of  long  ages  the  people  of  Shumir  and 
Accad  came  to  believe  there  were  beneficent  as 
well  as  bad  spirits.  Among  the  influences  that 
were  good  they  reckoned  the  sun,  moon,  planets, 
heaven,  the  atmosphere,  fire  and  running  water. 
These  extended  protection  to  them — through  the 
intercessions  of  priests.  These  latter  evolved 
carefully  prepared  formulas,  intercessions  and 
other  devices  for  allaying  the  wrath  of  bad 
spirits.  Thus  rituals  originated,  the  precursors 
of  the  rituals  of  to-day,  just  as  the  Chaldean 
conjurer,  enchanter,  magician  and  soothsayer, 
were  the  natural  precursors  of  our  priests. 

Religion  is  at  once  a  live  and  a  vital  force,  and 
its  evolution  represents  the  growth  of  man's  cul- 
ture, of  his  understanding,  of  his  desires  and  their 
fulfillment.  Its  continued  existence  and  evolu- 
tion indicate  that  it  is  not  based  on  imaginative 
fears  or  beautiful  dreams  merely.  It  may  be  that 
it  has  not  yet  reached  its  highest  development. 
Certainly  the  centuries  continue  to  add  to  its 
beauty  and  beneficence. 

The  Chaldean  peopled  the  unknown  with  imag- 
inary monsters.  The  malign  spirits  that  sur- 
rounded him  he  believed  to  be  infinite  in  number 
and  malevolence.  The  good  spirits  were  few  and 
inattentive.  He  believed  in  a  future  state  and  so 
buried  with  his  ancestors  their  ornaments,  food, 
weapons  and  clothing.  All  primitive  people  do 
the  same.  It  is  a  part  of  their  religious  belief. 
The  Chaldean,  however,  differed  from  others  who 
in  their  primordial  state  worship  their  ancestors. 


78  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

He  stood  in  the  Jiveliest  apprehension  of  his  fore- 
fathers. He  believed  that,  as  ghosts,  they  boded 
him  no  good,  and  were  wholly  malignant  in  their 
purpose  and  energy.  He  was,  therefore,  at  great 
pains  to  bury  them  securely  so  as  to  forever  bar 
their  return  to  earth. 

The  multiplicity  of  superstitions  and  myths 
that  have -grown  up  about  man  in  the  progress 
of  ages  he  has  always  been  at  great  pains  to 
arrange  and  classify.  This  work  in  primitive 
times  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  magicians,  enchant- 
ers, conjurers  and  soothsayers;  afterward  to  the 
priests.  These  intermediary  agents  have  sever- 
ally in  their  time  and  place  been  thought  to 
commune  directly  with  the  good  spirits  and  to 
have  power  over  those  that  were  evil.  In  olden 
times  they  were  supposed  to  be  able  to  cure 
diseases,  avert  magic,  ward  off  sorcery,  stanch 
wounds  and  perform  other  beneficent  offices  of 
life.  They  were  the  first  rulers  of  mankind  gov- 
erning through  superstitions  and  fears.  After- 
ward they  associated  civic  functions  with  their 
ecclesiastical  duties,  thus  becoming  priest-kings. 
These  progressive  steps  occupied  vast  cycles  of 
time  that  no  one  can  now  estimate.  Their  cul- 
mination, however,  is  to  be  found  in  the  religions 
of  our  day.  We  partake  of  the  communion;  it 
is  the  highest  form  of  adoration  of  which  we 
have  knowledge.  Primeval  man  performed  a 
like  office  by  getting  drunk.  Our  offering  is 
idealized;  his  was  literal.  He  worshiped  matter, 
believing  it  to  be  intelligent.  We  have  discov- 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  79 

ered  that  it  is  governed  by  a  higher  power;  this 
power  we  worship. 

The  Chaldeans  were  an  exceedingly  interesting 
people  aside  from  their  peculiar  religious  ideas. 
They  inhabited  the  country  about  the  mouth  of 
the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  at  the  head  of  the  Per- 
sian Gulf.  They  were  supposed  to  belong,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  the  Yellow  or  Turanian  race. 
They  used  the  land  but  little  for  transportation 
purposes,  and  the  water  much.  Men  and  women 
were  the  principal  carriers  as  they  are  among  all 


primitive  people.  The  country  of  Chaldea,  when 
irrigated,  yielded  three  and  four  abundant  crops 
a  year.  In  order  to  facilitate  this,  irrigating  can- 
als traversed  it  in  every  direction.  These  with 
the  great  rivers  which  flowed  through  the  Meso- 
potamian  valley  afforded  the  principal  means  of 
carriage.  The  boats  used,  while  having  some 
little  diversity,  were  still  exceedingly  primitive. 
They,  however,  answered  the  simple  needs  of  the 
inhabitants. 

In  the  time  of  Herodotus  he  tells  us  that  rafts 
buoyed  upon  inflated  skins  were  a  favorite  form 


80 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


of  carriage  in  Chaldea.  They  are  still  in  use 
there  to-day.  This  simple  device  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  the  first  that  suggested  itself  to  man 
for  water  transportation.  It  consisted  of  a  raft 
made  of  cane  or  willow,  buoyed  upon  inflated 
skins.  These  skins  were  filled  with  air  by  the 
lungs,  just  as  wre  see  children  inflate  toy  balloons 


in  our  day.  The  buoys  were  fastened  to  the 
rafts  with  strips  of  skin  or  osier  twigs.  These 
frail  structures  served  for  crossing  streams,  and 
upon  them  the  great  blocks  of  stone  used  in  the 
palaces  of  Nineveh  and  other  Assyrian  cities 
to  the  north  of  Chaldea  were  floated  down  from 
the  Zapros  mountains.  When  one  of  these  trans- 


OF  TRANSPORTATION  81 

ports  reached  its  destination  it  was  taken  apart 
the  wood  sold,  the  skins  cleaned  and  oiled,  and 
sent  back  to  be  used  again. 

The  boats  employed  on  the  Euphrates,  Herodo- 
vus  tells  us,  were  round,  like  a  wash  basin;  two 
or  more  men,  according  to  the  size  of  the  vessel, 
accompanied  it  and  directed  its  course.  They 
used  for  this  purpose  long  poles,  with  paddles 
made  of  bamboo  strips  attached  to  one  end,  very 
much  like  our  oar,  only  not  so  convenient  or 
strong.  Each  vessel,  according  to  its  size,  trans- 
ported one  or  more  donkeys  to  reconvey  the 
skins  covering  the  bottom  of  the  boat  back  to 
the  starting  point,  for  here,  as  in  Assyria,  the 
vessel  was  broken  up  and  sold  for  firewood  when 
it  reached  its  destination.  The  voyages  of  these 
craft  frequently  extended  from  tlie  mountains  of 
Armenia  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  many  hundreds  of 
miles.  These  vessels  represent  the  second  stage 
of  constructive  talent  in  boat  building  among  the 
Chaldeans.  Frail,  rude,  and  difficult  to  manage, 
they  were,  nevertheless,  a  great  improvement 
over  preceding  methods.  It  is  probable  that  the 
vessels  were  owned  by  those  who  managed  them. 
These  latter  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
common  carriers,  the  precursors  of  the  Lloyds 
Vanderbilts  and  Cunards  of  oar  day. 


6    Vol.  1  1 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PRIMITIVE   CARRIAGE    IN    SEMI-BARBAROUS   GREECE — 
THE   FIRST   COMMON   CARRIER. 

In  the  Odyssey  reference  is  made  to  Philsetus, 
the  herdsman,  who  brought  heifers  and  goats  to 
the  feast  of  the  suitors  by  ferrymen,  who  trans- 
ported in  common  all  who  sought  passage  be- 
tween the  rocky  coast  of  Ithaca  and  the  fertile 
Isle  of  Cephallinia.  This  was  twelve  hundred 
years  before  Christ.  It  is  the  first  reference,  so 
far  as  I  remember,  to  Common  Carriers.  The 
furtive  glimpse  we  get  of  these  hardy  mariners, 
who  at  the  very  dawn  of  history  braved  the 
Ionian  Sea  in  quest  of  gain,  makes  us  desire  to 
know  more  about  their  business,  its  extent,  meth- 
ods, risks,  hardships,  profits  and  patrons. 

How  was  their  business  controlled?  Did  crafty 
Ulysses,  or,  when  he  was  away,  the  chaste  and 
prudent  Penelope,  look  after  the  details?  Were 
supervisors  appointed  to  see  that  these  carriers 
did  not  charge  too  much;  that  they  did  not  dis- 
criminate? Or,  were  they  left  untrammeled? 
These  details,  however  interesting,  we  shall  never 
know,  as  Homer's  reference  is  casual,  the  glimpse 
meager  in  the  extreme. 

The  Ionian  boatmen  are  specks  on  an  im- 
measurable horizon  which  we  in  vain  try  to 

(83) 


84  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

pierce  with  our  tired  eyes.  They  formed  a  link, 
however,  in  the  vast  chain  of  men  who  connect 
the  carriers  of  to-day  with  their  progenitors 
among  the  savage  people  of  the  prehistoric 
period. 

Of  all  the  agencies  progressive  nations  of  the 
world  ha>e  utilized  in  the  art  of  carriage,  the 
horse  has  occupied  the  most  important  place. 
The  Aryans  were  unacquainted  with  hirn,  and  from 
this  it  is  gathered  that  they  could  not  have  come 
from  the  highlands  of  Central  Asia,  for  it  was  in 
that  country,  the  land  of  the  rising  sun,  of  mys- 
tery and  romance,  that  the  horse  was  first  domes- 
ticated. Evidences  of  his  presence  in  Europe, 
however,  are  found  during  the  palaeolithic  age, 
where  he  was  used  for  food.  He  appears  not  to 
have  been  at  that  time  larger  than  a  Shetland 
pony.  He  had,  however,  enormous  teeth  and 
jaws.  His  development  is  the  result  of  breed- 
ing. He  was  used  by  the 
Greeks  for  drawing  their 
war  chariots, 
and  was  thus 
employed  at 
the  siege  of 
Troy.  But 
they  had  not 
yet  learned  to 
mount  him. 
The  fable  of  the  Centaur — half  horse,  half  man- 
is  said  to  have  grown  out  of  a  belief  upon  the 


OF  TRANSPORTATION. 


85 


part  of  those  who  saw  a  man  on  horseback  for 
the  first  time  that  the  horse  and  rider  were 
one.  The  Egyptians,  although  rich,  luxurious 
and  worldly  wise,  had  no  knowledge  of  the  horse 
in  early  times.  The  builders  of  the  pyramids, 
who  above  all  sovereigns  exercised  arbitrary 
sway  over  men,  did  not  even  possess  so  simple  a 
luxury  as  a  palanquin.  It  is  probable  that  the 
conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez  would  not  have 
been  effected  except  for  the  superstition  the 
natives  attached  to  the  horses  of  the  conqueror. 
The  animal  was  unknown  to  them. 


The  horse  has  ever  been  a  favorite  Carrier. 
The  Grecians  loved  horses  as  we  do  and  bred 
them  with  the  utmost  care.  Upon  the  fleetness, 
intelligence  and  strength  of  these  animals  their 
lives  oftentimes  depended.  Chariot  racing  was 
a  favorite  amusement  with  the  Greeks.  Two, 
three  or  four  horses  were  hitched  loosely  abreast. 
Victory  depended  upon  their  swiftness  and  the 
skill  and  courage  of  the  driver.  To  be  victorious 
at  Olympia  was  the  greatest  honor  a  Greek 


86  SRI  GIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

could  attain.  The  races  occurred  on  every 
fourth  year,  called  the  Olympiad.*  King  and 
noble,  priest  and  layman,  alike  competed.  After 
the  decadence  of  Greece  the  races  were  per- 
petuated by  the  Romans.  The  strife  these 
contests  gave  rise  to  greatly  stimulated  the 
improvement  of  horses.  This  improvement  is 
still  goingf  on. 

Horses  of  superior  breed  were  revered  by  the 
ancients.  Those  of  Achilles  were  said  to  have 
sprung  from  the  gods.  History  abounds  with  the 
quaint  superstitions  of  primitive  people  regarding 
this  animal.  Bellerophon,  king  of  Lycia,  sought 
to  mount  to  the  skies  on  his  steed,  Pegasus.  The 
nomad  still  looks  upon  his  horse  as  his  best 
friend;  Asiatics  make  him  their  companion. 
Among  highly  capable  races,  the  Semitic  people 
seem  to  care  least  for  the  horse. 

The  idea  of  using  the  horse  was  an  important 
incident  in  the  evolution  of  man.  Running  wild 
over  the  vast  steppes  of  Central  Asia,  he  was 
caught  and  tamed.  Thenceforward  he  was  util- 
ized both  for  peaceful  and  warlike  purposes. 
Chivalrous  Greece  attached  an  exaggerated  value 
to  him,  but  the  roughness  of  the  country  pre- 
vented his  being  generally  used.  At  the  battle 
of  Marathon  (B.  C.  490)  the  Greeks  were  without 
cavalry.  In  the  retreat  of  the  ten  thousand 
(B.  C.  400)  Xenophon  had  no  cavalry,  except 

*  The  Greeks  measured  time  from  the  first  Olympiad,  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-six  years  before  our  era,  just  as  we  com- 
pute it  from  the  birth  of  Christ. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  87 

such  as  he  was  able  to  organize  from  the  pack 
horses  and  the  animals  captured  from  the  Per- 
sians, In  the  battle  for  supremacy  between 
Sparta  and  Thebes,  at  Leuctra,  the  former  had 
one  thousand  horse,  while  Epaminondas  had  a 
less  number.  In  the  final  struggle  at  Matinea  the 
Thebans  had  three  thousand  horse,  the  Spartans 
two  thousand.  Elis  and  Thessaly,  with  their 
verdant  valleys  and  grassy  slopes,  were  the 
favorite  breeding  places  for  horses  in  Greece. 
However,  all  the  horses  raised  by  the  Grecians 
did  not  equal  those  bred  by  the  single  Persian, 
Tritsechmes,  governor  of  Babylon.  This  noble- 
man is  said  to  have  owned  eight  hundred  stal- 
lions and  sixteen  thousand  mares,  besides  the 
annual  war  contingent  he  furnished  the  king, 
Cyrus  the  Great. 

The  Arab,  of  all  men,  possesses  the  greatest 
affection  for  his  horse.  The  Scythians,  a  savage, 
untamable  race,  used  the  milk  of  their  mares  for 
food.  The  Parthians,  the  most  formidable  horse- 
men of  whom  we  have  any  account,  did  likewise. 
Before  these  fierce  warriors  the  legions  of  Rome, 
hitherto  invincible,  succumbed.  The  Thessalian 
horsemen  were  the  most  famous  of  Greece  and, 
siding  with  Xerxes,  afforded  him  effective  aid  in 
his  invasion.  The  phalanx  of  Philip  of  Macedon, 
supplemented  by  the  Thessalian  horse,  made  him 
invincible. 

The  stealing  of  horses  and  cattle  in  primitive 
ages  was  a  favorite  means  of  robbery,  as  it  is  now 
in  all  new  countries.  It  was  punished  with  death, 


88  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

as  it  has  been  until  recently  on  the  frontiers  of 
North  America. 

From  being  at  first  merely  a  source  of  delight 
or  an  instrument  of  war,  the  horse  became  more 
and  more,  with  the  lapse  of  time,  a  vulgar  car- 
rier of  packs — a  drawer  of  water.  Of  all  nature's 
gifts  to  man,  none  perhaps  exceeds  him  in  value. 
His  strength  represents  the  unit  of  our  service; 
he  is  the  real  progenitor  of  the  steam  locomo- 
tive, but  with  its  advent  his  value  has  not  been 
sensibly  lessened. 

From  a  study  of  the  Aryans  we  are  carried, 
step  by  step,  down  to  those  among  their  de- 
scendants who  first  achieved  greatness  —  the 
people  among  whom  we  discover  the  first  Com- 
mon Carrier.  The  petty  kingdoms  of  Greece 
were  evolved,  it  is  probable,  from  different  clans, 
generally  similar  to  each  other,  but  never  suffi- 
ciently close  to  prevent  intense  jealousies  and 
hatreds.  The  first  glimpse  we  have  of  them  is 
at  the  siege  of  Troy,  where  contingents  from 
every  part  of  Greece  were  assembled.  At  that 
time  the  Greeks  were  hardly  more  civilized  than 
the  savage  Indians  of  North  America.  Indeed, 
no  primitive  people  so  greatly  resemble  the 
Greeks  of  Homer  as  the  North  American  Indians. 
They  lived  on  meat  and  were  much  given  to 
fighting  and  drunkenness.  The  funeral  rites  of 
their  great  chiefs  wTere  holocausts  of  blood.  At 
such  times  hecatombs  of  slaves  and  prisoners 
were  slain  to  appease  their  manes.  Animals 
were  used  for  sacrificial  purposes.  At  the  time 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  89 

of  the  Trojan  war  the  kings  of  Greece  lived  apart 
in  impregnable  fortresses.  The  walls  of  some  of 
these  were  of  enormous  thickness ;  those  of 
Tiryns  and  Mycene  were  forty  feet  thick,  and 
proportionately  high.  These  fortresses  indicated 
the  necessity  there  was  for  heroic  defense.  The 
floors  of  the  living  rooms  in  those  citadels  were 
of  concrete,  roughly  patterned  in  squares  and 
painted.  The  walls  were  coated  with  plaster 
and  decorated  with  delsartian  animals  and 
figures;  a  rude  panel  following  the  ceiling  in 
some  cases.  The  fireplace,  as  in  the  case  of  all 
primitive  dwellings,  was  in  the  center  of  the 
room. 

Cleanliness  was  not  a  virtue  with  the  Greeks 
more  than  with  other  semi-barbarians.  The 
filth  and  stench  of  their  dwellings  wrould  be  in- 
tolerable to  a  civilized  person.  The  security  of 
their  fortresses  required  that  they  should  be 
drained,  but  there  was  no  thought  of  sanitation 
or  ventilation.  Great  numbers  of  people  ate, 
lived  and  slept  in  the  same  room,  and  the  ani- 
mals they  required  for  food  were  killed  and 
dressed  in  the  apartment  where  they  were  con- 
sumed, or  ,at  the  door  without.  The  entrails 
were  devoured  by  dogs,  or  lay  festering  in  the 
air.  The  palace  of  Priam  did  not  equal  in  com- 
forts the  hut  of  the  poorest  Russian  peasant,  it 
is  probable. 

In  the  tombs  of  the  Grecian  kings  of  that  age 
Doctor  Schliemann  found  vases,  bowls  and  jugs 
made  of  clay,  painted  and  varnished,  and  idols 


90  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

formed  of  terra-cotta,  but  so  rude  as  to  be  hardly 
recognizable.  Slabs,  rudely  decorated  with  hunt- 
ing scenes,  marked  the  graves.  With  the  bodies 
were  found  the  ornaments  that  adorned  them 
when  alive — diadems,  pendants,  crosses,  earrings, 
bracelets  and  rings  of  hammered  gold  in  repousse 
w7ork;  also  gold  hairpins,  glass  and  amber  beads, 
gold,  silver  and  copper  cups  and  images,  spear 
heads,  swords  and  knives  of  bronze  and  stone  and 
obsidian  arrow  heads.  The  people  of  that  age 
were  idolaters.  However,  they  believed,  like 
their  ancestors,  in  a  future  state.  The  period 
was  known  as  the  Mycenean  age,  B.  C.  1200.  Its 
civilization  was  destroyed  a  hundred  years  after- 
ward by  the  Dorian  invasion,  but  so  great  was 
the  genius  and  versatility  of  the  Greek  people 
that  in  the  time  of  Pericles,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  the  Christian  era,  the  descend- 
ants of  the  semi-savages  of  Mycene  had  become 
a  highly  cultivated  people,  the  equals  of  the 
greatest  teachers,  statesmen,  orators,  sculptors, 
architects,  poets  and  warriors  the  world  has  ever 
known. 

The  first  glimpse  we  have  of  the  Grecians  they 
are  clothed  in  the  skins  of  animals.  Their  weapon 
is  a  club.  A  sharp  stick,  hardened  in  the  fire, 
serves  as  a  spear.  They  live  upon  the  semi-raw 
flesh  of  animals.  In  Arcadia  the  acorn  served 
for  food.  Robbery  wras  common.  The  peculiar 
situation  of  Greece,  projecting  like  an  arm  into 
the  sea,  made  her  people  pirates,  and  for  many 
centuries  kept  them  so.  Thus  they  grew  up 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  91 

adventurous  and  independent.  They  were  vain 
to  the  last  degree,  like  all  talented  people. 

In  their  early  history  the  Greeks  gave  but 
little  thought  to  the  arts  of  Carriers.  The  high- 
ways were  poor  and  infested  with  robbers.  They 
were  a  contentious,  pugnacious  race,  at  constant 
variance  with  each  other.  They  loved  war,  but 
with  the  prudence  of  those  who  value  property, 
abstained  from  burning  each  other's  cities." 
Herein  they  differed  from  all  other  peoples. 
When,  however,  at  war  with  other  nations 
(whom  they  classed  indiscriminately  as  barbar- 
ians), they  destroyed  what  they  could  not  carry 
off,  murdering  or  enslaving  the  inhabitants  with- 
out mercy. 

The  Greeks  were  at  once  crafty  and  unscrupu- 
lous; refined  and  brutal,  artistic  and  sensual,  but 
wise  beyond  all  other  men.  Prize  fighting  was 
one  of  their  favorite  amusements.  At  such  times 
the  hands  and  lower  arms  of  the  combatants 
were  encased  in  leathern  thongs  loaded  with 
lead.  Prizes  were  awarded  the  victor  as  they 
are  to-day.  In  the  encounter  between  Hercules 
and  Eryax  the  prize  was  the  kingdom  of  Sicily. 
Ulysses  fought  Irus  for  the  right  to  solicit  alms. 
In  the  contest  between  Epeus  and  Euryalus,  at 
the  funeral  of  Patroclus,  the  prize  was  a  mule 
and  a  bowl.  In  that  between  Entellus  and  Dares 
at  Drapanum,  it  was  a  bullock.  Dares  is  described 
as  being  carried  off  the  field  gulping  up  blood 
and  teeth.  These  encounters  were  oftentimes 
fatal,  but  were  conducted  by  the  Greeks  with 


92  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

less   brutality  than   was  the   custom   with   sur- 
rounding nations. 

Greece  was  at  the  time  of  whitfh  I  write  inter- 
laced with  vast  forests  and  impassable  morasses. 
The  Greeks  cared  little  for  travel.  They  associ- 
ated the  power  and  mysteries  of  the  gods  with 
the  mountain  heights — hence  the  Olympian  Court, 
Idean  Jove.-  Unfamiliar  with  the  geography  of 
the  earth  and  ignorant  of  its  laws,  they  filled  its 
unknown  places  with  creatures  of  their  fancy. 
When  perplexed,  they  visited  the  shrines  of  the 
gods  for  advice,  poring  over  the  Delphic  utter- 
ances they  received  with  incredible  patience  and 
childlike  faith.  Ambitious,  fierce,  warlike,  they 
treasured  their  personal  liberty  above  everything 
else.  Like  the  Aryans,  they  were  extremely  super- 
stitious. To  them  the  wind  and  the  rain,  the  sky 
and  the  cloud,  the  wood  and  the  river,  were  living 
things.  They  heard  the  voice  of  Jove  in  the 
thunder;  saw  his  arm  in  the  lightning.  They 
peopled  the  water  with  deities,  nereids,  sea 
nymphs;  the  islands  with  cyclopean  monsters, 
cannibals,  satyrs,  furies,  sirens,  enchantresses, 
harpies;  the  gloomy  forests  with  gods  and  satyrs; 
the  borders  of  the  earth  with  creatures  half 
human,  half  animal.  The  winds  and  the  storms 
they  thought  were  stored  in  vast  caves  ready  to 
be  let  loose  by  the  attendant  deity. 

The  Greek  religion  is  thought  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  Egyptians  and  Chaldeans.  It 
was  simple  and  unquestioning — that  of  children 
without  a  past  who  knew  nothing  of  natural 


OF  TRANSPORTATION. 


93 


laws.  They  believed  everything  depended  upon 
the  personal  interest  and  inclinations  of  the  gods, 
who  aided  those  they  loved  and  thwarted  those 
they  disliked.  They  pictured  the  gods  as  coming 
and  going  at  pleasure,  sometimes  making  their 
presence  known,  but  more  often  not.  To  the  vis- 
itations and  amours  of  these  gods  were  thought 
to  be  due  the  half  divine  heroes  of  Greece — chil- 
dren of  favored  women  out  of  wedlock.  They 
attributed  to  the  gods  the  same  passions  as  men, 
only  of  heroic  character.  . 

The  ships  of  the  primitive  Greeks  were  small, 
ill  constructed  and  cumbersome,  little  better  than 
open  boats.  When  ashore  they  were  drawn  up  on 
the  land,  as  the  Indian  does  his  canoe.  At  such 
times  the  masts  and 
other  parapherna- 
lia were  removed. 
Virgil  speaks  of  the 
vessels  of  ^Eneasas 
having  anchors,  but 
in  this  he  is  thought 
to  have  erred,  the 
anchor  having  been  ^ 
invented  later. 
Vessels  were  with- 
out cabins;  com- 
mander, sailor  and 

guest  alike  slept  upon  a  bench.  The  compass 
was  unknown.  At  night  the  moon  and  stars 
served  as  guides.  Adverse  winds  and  storms  were 
ascribed  to  an  offended  deity;  but  favorable  winds 


94  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

and  clear  skies  were  construed  as  the   friendly 
countenance  of  kindly  spirits. 

The  early  Greeks  were  migratory.  When  over- 
crowded or  molested  they  moved  away,  forming 
new  settlements.  Right  of  selection  was  recog- 
nized as  belonging  to  the  strongest  and  there  was 
no  security,  except  such  as  was  maintained  by 
force.  The  tnen  were  hunters  and  shepherds,  but 
above  all,  warriors.  Their  knowledge  of  agri- 
culture was  exceedingly  limited.  They  depended 
wholly  upon  the  chase  and  their  flocks.  Bold, 
adventurous  and  self  reliant,  they  stubbornly  pre- 
served their  tribal  relations  to  the  end,  and  it 
was  through  the  divisions  and  jealousies  these 
conditions  engendered  that  their  enemies  were 
enabled  finally  to  overcome  them.  Such  were 
the  Greeks.  They  gave  much  and  borrowed  little. 
Creative  and  imaginative,  their  intelligence  sub- 
jugated the  world  and  still  influences  its  destinies. 
It  was  amid  such  conditions  that. the  hardy  Ionian 
sailor,  the  First  Common  Carrier,  was  evolved. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE    AMONG   THE  EGYPTIANS    AND 
OTHER   ANCIENT    PEOPLES. 

That  the  evolution  of  primitive  carriage  in  the 
first  instance  occupied  vast  cycles  of  time  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  Savages  and  semi-barbarians 
do  not  reason  by  analogy  and  deduction  as  we 
do.  They  lack  suggestion,  method  and  inclina- 
tion. Their  thoughts  and  devices  are  those  of 
very  young  children.  Because  of  this  thek 
development  is  slow  and  halting. 


At  the  dawn  of  history  many  successive  steps 
had  been  traversed.  The  cart  had  been  invented 
and  was  used  both  for  purposes  of  peace  and 
war.  Among  nomadic  peoples  it  was  also  some- 
times used  as  a  house.  This  composite  structure, 
drawn  by  oxen,  was  made  of  wood  and  covered 

(95) 


96 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


with  bark,  grasses,  or  undressed  skins.  It  varied 
in  size  according  to  the  needs  of  the  owner  and 
the  facilities  there  were  for  moving  it  across  the 
country. 

The  cart  was  the  only  vehicle  known  to  the 
people  of  remote  times.  Later,  it  became  a 
chariot.  To  make  it  more  effective  as  a  war 
engine,  the- Assyrians  and  other  warlike  people 
of  that  period  attached  scythes  or  knives  to  the 
wheels  and  other  parts  of  the  vehicle  with  which 
to  cut  down  or  maim  their  enemies  in  battle. 

In  Rome  t'h e 
cart  became  a 
favorite  instru- 
ment of  punish- 
ment through 
the  practice  o  f 
crushing  crimi- 
nals  on  its 
wheels. 

The  ancients, 
who  could  not 
conceive  of  any- 
thing  beyond 
their  personal  experience,  believed  that  the  gods 
used  vehicles  exactly  as  they  did.  Thus  the 
Romans  thought  Jupiter,  Minerva  and  other 
great  deities  were  transported  in  chariots  drawn 
by  magnificent  horses,  just  as  the  chariots  of 
Rome  were  drawn.  Neptune's  car  was  thought 
to  be  a  shell  drawn  by  beings  half  fish,  half 
horse. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION. 


97 


The  Greeks  had  similar  superstitions.  The 
Hindoos  assigned  different  methods  of  trans- 
portation to  their  gods.  Thus  Brahma  employed 

a  swan;  another 
deity,  an  eagle.  Still 
others,  a  bull,  rat, 
peacock,  elephant, 
fish,  parrot,  ram, 
lion,  tiger,  or  horse, 
as  the  case  might  be. 
One  of  the  most  ancient  superstitions  of  this  kind 
is  that  of  Ea,  the  Chaldean's  spirit  of  earth  and 
water,  who,  it  was  believed,  protected  the  world 
by  going  round  and  round  it  in  a  great  ship. 

The   Egyptians  used 
a  four-wheeled  vehicle 
for  transporting 
one  of  their  dei- 
ties, but  do  not 
appear  to    have 
made  much  use 
of  such  a  vehicle 
for  any  other 
purpose. 

Primordial 
man  did  not  go 
away  from  home 
and  knew  nothing  about  commerce.  Prior  to  our 
era  trade  was  feeble  and  travel  infrequent.  A  few 
favored  nations  carried  on  a  desultory  commerce 
beset  by  dangers  by  land  and  sea.  But  their 
efforts  were  spasmodical  and  greatly  restricted, 

7    Vol.  11 


98  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

The  world  at  large  was  peopled  by  savages.  Out- 
side a  restricted  ray  of  light  all  was  darkness. 
The  hordes  that  inhabited  this  unknown  region 
never  ventured  beyond  their  own  confines  except 
in  organized  bands  for  purposes  of  rapine  and 
murder.  But  the  theory  of  carriage  had  been 
evolved.  Man  has  since  occupied  himself  in  per- 
fecting it.  -  But  he  has  built  on  old  models. 
Thus,  while  vessels  have  been  greatly  improved 
since  the  fall  of  Carthage  (B.  C.  140),  their  orig- 
inal outlines  are  still  preserved.  This  is  also 
true  of  land  carriage.  With  better  roads  the 
rude  carts  of  the  ancients  have  been  perfected. 
But  every  important  appliance  is  of  primitive, 
oftentimes  prehistoric,  origin.  The  introduction 
of  railroads  and  steamboats  called  into  being 
new  motors.  These  so  accelerate,  cheapen  and 
generalize  that  the  ideas  we  have  to-day  of  inter- 
communication, distant  travel,  diffused  knowl- 
edge and  vast  research  render,  us  incapable  of 
realizing  the  lethargy  and  isolation  of  our  remote 
forefathers.  We  can  neither  comprehend  their 
state  nor  imagine  the  details  of  their  lives. 

The  arts  of  Carriers  are  as  old  as  the  disposi- 
tion of  man  to  travel  or  look  abroad  for  a  market. 
Wherever,  in  any  age,  industry  characterized  a 
people,  and  protection  was  accorded,  there,  under 
one  guise  or  another,  the  carrier  plied  his  voca- 
tion. In  the  first  instance  his  field  did  not  ex- 
tend beyond  the  carriage  of  an  occasional  traveler 
between  neighboring  and  friendly  villages  or 
across  some  great  river  or  branch  of  the  sea. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  99 

Men  lived  apart  in  savage  isolation.  With  the 
lapse  of  time  the  art  of  constructing  vessels  was 
evolved,  and  as  man  progressed  in  methods  and 
needs  we  catch  glimpses  of  him  here  and  there 
in  his  diminutive  ships  plying  back  and  forth 
along  the  Persian  Gulf  or  in  and  out  among  the 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean. 

Of  the  facilities  of  the  ancients  for  handling 
travelers,  accounts  tell  us  little.  Even  Herodotus, 
that  most  voluble,  curious  and  amiable  of  gossips, 
is  silent.  He  describes  his  journeys,  the  people 
he  visited  and  heard  about,  but  says  nothing  as 
to  how  he  traveled  from  place  to  place.  And  this 
notwithstanding  his  voyages  necessitated  the  most 
varied  transportation,  that  peculiar  to  sea  and 
river,  desert  and  highway,  mountain  and  valley. 
He  tells  us  indeed,  with  a  relish  time  can  never 
dull,  of  the  habits  of  the  people  he  saw  and  hea.rd 
about;  their  idiosyncracies,  foibles,  and  weak- 
nesses—  especially  their  weaknesses — but  not  a 
word  about  means  of  transportation. 

Herodotus  was  the  most  delightful  gossip  that 
ever  lived.  He  penetrated  the  weaknesses  of 
mankind  with  the  prescience  of  a  surgeon,  but 
with  the  kindliness  of  a  man  of  the  world.  More- 
over, he  took  delight  in  recounting  his  experience. 
His  voice  is  soft  and  ductile  as  he  describes  what 
he  saw  and  heard.  He  dwells  with  evident  pleas- 
ure upon  the  salacious  practices  of  ancient  Baby- 
lonia and  the  suggestive  scenes  in  and  around  the 
sacred  temple  Mylitta.  His  voice  is  equally  soft 
and  low  when  speaking  of  the  dower-earning 


100  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

wantons  of  Lydia,  of  the  unclad  virgins  of  Lace- 
dsemon,  of  the  strange  marriage  rites  of  the 
Nasamonians,  of  the  incense  burners  of  Persia, 
of  the  burning  love  of  the  Scythian  nomads,  of 
peeping,  insidious  Gyges  and  his  unhappy  victim, 
the  unfortunate  Candaules.  Nor  does  his  narra- 
tive lose  anything  in  interest  when  it  recites  the 
legend  of  fhe  blind  king  Pheron,  or  the  particu- 
lars of  the  amatory  habits  of  birds,  the  concupis- 
cence of  animals,  the  propagating  qualities  of 
hares,  the  virility  of  vipers  or  the  amorous  pro- 
pensities of  cats.  But  not  a  word  does  he  say 
about  his  means  of  traversing  Syria  and  Asia 
Minor,  how  he  journeyed  from  Halicarnassus  to 
Ancient  Thebes,  how  he  lived  en  route,  and  the 
time  it  took  to  go  from  place  to  place.  Such 
things  he  evidently  esteemed  of  no  importance, 
but  how  interesting  they  would  be  to  us! 

In  our  meager  accounts  of  antiquity  we  have 
reference  to  the  voyages  of  other  travelers  before 
Herodotus,  notably  those  of  Lycurgus  and  Solon. 
But  while  we  are  favored  with  information  in 
regard  to  the  objects  of  their  journeyings,  details 
of  carriage  are  lacking.  We  derive  much  inter- 
esting information  of  sea  voyaging  from  Homer's 
account  of  the  wanderings  of  Ulysses,  but  the 
incidents  of  his  journeyings  are  so  outside  the 
ordinary  course  of  events  that  we  gain  little 
insight  into  practical  methods  of  travel. 

Of  travelers  in  primitive  times  the  Argonauts 
are  among  the  first  of  whom  we  have  details, 
whether  fabulous  or  otherwise.  Their  journey, 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  101 

which  occupied  months  in  its  execution  and  was 
beset  by  many  dangers,  might  to-day  be  followed 
by  a  child  safely  and  with  little  cost  of  time  or 
money.  Such  is  the  progress  that  has  been  made. 
But  this  progress  has  neither  been  certain  nor 
steady.  There  have  been  long  periods  in  which 
no  advance  was  made,  while  the  labors  of  cen- 
turies have  frequently 
been  lost  by  the  mis- 
haps of  an  hour. 

In  the  phraseology  of 
travel,  land  carriage 
has,  curiously  enough, 
adopted  much  of  the 
nomenclature  of  nauti- 
cal life.  This  would 
seem  to  show  that  the 
latter  antedated  the 
other.  In  this  connec- 
tion we  know,  more- 
over, that  many  cen- 
turies after  the  denizens 
of  Shumir  and  the  East- 
ern Mediterranean  were 
accustomed  to  make 
long  and  successful  voy- 
ages by  water,  it  was 
still  unsafe  to  travel  by 
land  except  in  strong 
detachments. 

Woman,  as  already  stated,  was  the  first  carrier. 
This  was  before  the  domestication  of  wild  ani- 


1 02  ORIGIN  AND  EVOL  UTION 

mals.  In  some  countries  the  load  was  carried 
upon  the  head,  in  others  upon  the  shoulders,  in 
others  strapped  upon  the  back.  Herodotus  says 
that  the  men  of  Egypt  carried  their  loads  on 
their  heads,  while  the  women  carried  them  upon 
their  shoulders.  The  chariot  is  mentioned  in 
very  remote  times.  Sharrukin,  King  of  Agade, 
in  the  records  he  has  left  of  his  campaign  to  the 
sea  of  the  setting  sun,  fifty-seven  hundred  years 
ago,  speaks  exultingly  of  having  ridden  in  myr- 
iads of  bronze  chariots.  This  reference  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  it  was  something  new- 
something  to  boast  of.  But  later  discoveries  are 
likely  to  prove  this  untrue,  as  the  semi-civiliza- 
tion of  the  Chaldeans  dated  back  to  a  period  far 
more  remote  than  the  time  of  Sharrukin. 

In  the  accounts 
we  have  of  the 'ac- 
coutrements of  war 
in  ancient  times," 
and  of  the  spoils 
captured  from  ene- 
mies overthrown, 
the  chariot  occu- 
pies, in  every  in- 
stance, a  conspicu- 
ous place.  In  the 
invasion  of  Syria 
by  the  Egyptians, 
thirty-five  hundred 
years  ago,  many 
chariots  of  bronze 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  103 

and  gold,  history  tells  us,  were  captured  at  a 
great  battle  fought  at  Megiddo.  Tiglath  Pileser, 
who  reigned  twelve  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
recounts  that  he  captured  one  hundred  and 
twenty  chariots  in  one  of  his  campaigns  in  the 
Nairi  country,  a  mountainous  district  to  the 
north  of  Assyria.  Afterward  he  tells  how  he  con- 
structed many  of  these  vehicles  for  his  own  peo- 
ple, thus  showing  them  to  be  a  common  medium 
of  conveyance. 

Homer,  in  the  Iliad,  refers  again  and  again  to 
the  chariots  at  the  siege  of  Troy;  he  speaks  of 
them  admiringly  and  as  being  decorated 

"  With  solid  beauty    .     .     .    bright  with  the  mingled 

blaze  of  tin  and  gold. 

The  yoke  of  box,  embossed  with  costly  pains, 
Hung  with  ringlets  to  receive  the  reins; 
Nine  cubits  long  the  traces  swept  the  ground; 
These  to  the  chariot's  polished  pole  they  bound." 

Six  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Christ  the 
Assyrian  monarch,  Asshurbanipal,  recounts  ex- 
ultingly  how  he  was  hauled  to  the  temple  in  a 
chariot  drawn  by  captive  kings.  The  chariots 
of  antiquity  were,  in  many  instances,  of  exquisite 
workmanship,  profusely  inlaid  with  gold,  silver 
and  precious  stones.  The  pictures  left  of  them 
show  a  high  state  of  perfection,  both  in  the 
vehicle  and  the  accoutrements  of  the  horses. 

The  chariot  offered  an  effective  vantage  ground 
in  battle,  and  its  use  was  so  general  that  the 
ancients  were  in  the  habit  of  resorting,  in  time 
of  war,  to  particular  places  with  a  view  to  its 


104  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 

effective  use  in  battle.  The  great  plain  of  Esdra- 
elon  was^one  of  those  spots.  The  chariot  was  gen- 
erally used  for  land  carriage  in  primitive  times. 
It  was  easily  constructed,  strong,  accessible,  and 
capable  of  withstanding  the  hard  usage  to  which 
it  was  subjected  in  that  remote  and  ragged  age. 


Xerxes,  in  his  invasion  of  Greece,  is  said  to 
have  had  a  carriage,  which  he  used  in  common 
with  his  chariot.'  This  is  about  the  first  mention 
we  have  of  such  a  vehicle.  Indeed,  its  use  would 
not  have  been  possible  at  a  much  earlier  date. 
Until  the  time  of  Darius  (five  hundred  and  twenty 
years  before  Christ)  general  highways  were  not 
known  throughout  western  Asia.  This  monarch 
conceived  the  idea  of  connecting  the  widely  sepa- 
rated districts  of  his  empire  by  public  roads 
systematically  laid  out  and  maintained.  These 
rendered  the  general  use  of  vehicles  possible. 
Darius  was  also,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  first  to 


OF  TRANSPORTATION. 


105 


ii 


establish  regular  post  routes,  with  relays  of 
horses  and  riders.  They  con- 
nected his  capital  with  the 
various  parts  of  his  empire. 
One  of  the  emblems  of  the 
United  States  Postoffice  de- 
partment, a  man  on  horse- 
back, answers  equally  well  for 
the  mail  carrier  of  Darius.  The 
embassy  sent  by  the  Persian 
Megabazus  to  Amyntas,  king 
of  Macedonia  in  the  time  of 
Darius,  was  said  to  have 
traveled  with  carriages  and  all 
kinds  of  baggage.  This  was 
the  embassy  destroyed,  with 
all  its  retinue,  by  the  young 
Macedonian  prince,  Alexander. 
Cyrus  and  other  early  Persian 
kings  are  said  to  have  carried 
their  drinking  water  with  them 
from  Susa  in  carriages.  Refer- 
ence to  the  use  of  carriages 
by  the  ancients  is  generally 
misleading;  the  vehicles  were 
simply  rude  wagons. 

Many  centuries  passed  with 
little  or  no  improvement  in 
the  vehicles  of  the  ancients. 
With  safety  in  travel  and 
better  highways,  progress  was  made.  Covered 
carriages  were  first  known  in  Europe  in  the 


106  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 

beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  they  were 
used  only  by  women  of  the  first  rank,  men  deem- 
ing it  disgraceful  to  ride  in  them.  Their  use  for 
women  was  for  a  long  time  forbidden.  They 
were  called  "whirlicotes."  Coaches  were  first 
let  for  hire  in  London  about  1625,  at  which 
date  there  were  only  twenty;  these  plied  at  the 
principal  inns.  Ten  years  afterward,  however, 
they  became  so  numerous  that  Charles  I.  issued 
an  order  limiting  their  number.  The  covered 
coach  was  at  first  very  unpopular.  A  writer  in 
1605  says:  "The  coach  is  a  close  hypocrite;  for 
it  hath  cover  for  knavery  and  curtains  to  vaile 
and  shadow  any  wickedness.*  .  .  .  It  is  a 
dangerous  kinde  of  carriage  for  the  common- 
wealth." 

Of  the  chariots  of  the  ancients,  the  best  types 
were  of  bronze.  This  was  the  metal  in  common 
use.  Of  it  shields,  swords,  daggers,  knives  and 
other  implements  were  then  made.  .  Iron  was 
unknown,  or,  if  known,  sparingly  used.  Thirty- 
five  hundred  years  after  Sharrukin's  time  the 
skill  of  an  ingenious  Greek,  an  inhabitant  of 
Chios,  who  practiced  the  art  of  inlaying  gold  and 
silver  vessels  with  iron,  was,  because  of  his  pecul- 
iar art,  thought  of  sufficient  renown  to  be  singled 
out  for  mention  by  the  historian,  Herodotus.  In 
the  time  of  the  latter,  travel  within  the  limits 
of  the  civilized  world,  while  not  general,  was 
more  or  less  common.  It  is  not,  therefore,  so 

*  The  criticism  still  fits  in  many  instances  the  compartment 
car. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  107 

surprising  that  he  does  not  tell  us  how  he  jour- 
neyed from  place  to  place. 

I  have  already  described  the  means  of  trans- 
portation in  Mesopotamia  as  noticed  by  Herod- 
otus. It  was  not  only  exceedingly  primitive  but 
unique.  Instead  of  the  long  boat  of  the  Phoe- 
nicians, the  crafts  used  on  the  rivers  were  either 
round  like  a  saucer  or  consisted  of  a  floating 
platform.  At  the  time  these  clumsy  crafts  were 
used  on  the  Euphrates,  the  Egyptians  were  much 
further  advanced.  Herodotus  refers  to  three  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  transportation  on  the  Nile,  namely, 
rafts,  barges  and  sailing  vessels.  Vessels  were 
floated  down  the  river  and  towed  from  the  shore 
when  going  up  stream  if  there  was  not  sufficient 
wind  to  fill  the  sails.* 

While  these  primitive  vessels  sufficed  for  in- 
land navigation,  they  were  not  adapted  to  the 
sea,  and  it  is  to  the  seafaring  people  of  antiquity 
we  are  indebted  for  the  form  of  boat  we  use 
to-day, —  at  once  convenient,  swift  and  strong. 
The  art  of  perfecting  our  form  of  sea-going  ves- 
sels is  due  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  Phoenicians. 
The  Greeks  still  further  perfected  them.  The 


*  We  find  early  reference  to  governmental  control  of  carriage 
in  connection  with  water  transportation.  Beckman,  a  writer 
of  a  century  ago,  says:  "The  floating  of  wood  seems,  like 
many  other  useful  establishments,  to  have  been  invented  or 
first  undertaken  by  private  persons  at  their  own  risk  and  ex- 
pense, with  the  consent  of  governments  or  at  least  without  any 
opposition.  But  as  soon  as  it  was  brought  to  be  useful  and 
profitable,  it  came  to  be  considered  as  a  right  or  prerogative  of 
the  ruler." 


108 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


Romans  took  up  the  construction  of  ships  (copy- 
ing from  their  neighbors),  not  because  of  love  for 
the  sea  or  its  commerce,  but  that  they  might 
overcome  Carthage,  with  which  city  they  were 
at  enmity. 


For  purpose  of  commerce  the  ancients  devised 
a  strong,  slow-going  vessel,  but  for  war  something 
swifter  and  easier  to  manage  was  required.  The 
trireme  was  the  result,  a  galley  with  three  rows 
of  oarsmen.  Afterward  followed  the  quadri- 
reme,  a  galley  with  four  rows  of  oarsmen.  This 
was  succeeded  in  turn  by  the.  quinq-uereme,  a 
galley  with  five  rows  of  oarsmen.  These  vessels 
were  also  used  for  pleasure  crafts  and  for  the 
transportation  of  persons  and  goods  when  the 
traffic  was  such  as  to  warrant  it.  They  were 
models  of  strength  and  swiftness. 


In  contemplating  the  prehistoric  age  we  can 
not  but  believe  that  Egypt,  at  least,  with  its 
great  river,  its  generally  peaceful  pursuits,  its 


OF  TRANSPORTATION. 


109 


immense  transportation  needs,  its  vast  popula- 
tion and  varied  industries,  possessed  at  an  early 
day  common  carriers  as  we  do  to-day — men  who 
devoted  themselves  to  the  transportation  of  per- 
sons and  property,  furnishing  every  necessary 
appliance  and  favoring  all  alike.  No  ancient 
country,  except  possibly  Chaldea,  so  strongly 
suggests  the  probable  presence  of  common  car- 
riers. The  agricultural  habits  of  the  Egyptians 
and  the  freedom  from  intrusion  they  enjoyed 
rendered  such  division  of  labor  not  only  possible 
but  extremely  likely. 
Many  references, 
in  Egyptian  inscrip- 
tions and  manu- 
scripts, are  found 
to  primitive 
methods  of  car- 
riage. From  them 
we  learn  that  in  the 
time  of  the  fourth 
dynasty  (about  B.  C. 
3000)  the  ass  was  the 
only  animal  used  as 
a  beast  of  burden.* 
A  simple  car  or  plat- 
form laid  across  the  backs  of  two  asses  and  strap- 
ped thereto  served  as  a  seat  for  the  traveler. 

*If  this  date  is  accurate,  it  indicates  that  the  Egyptians 
were  much  later  in  perfecting  land  carriage  than  the  Chaldeans. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  this  is  probable.  The  Egyptians  depended 
upon  the  Nile  and  such  simple  devices  as  were  necessary  for 
handling  goods  in  close  proximity  thereto. 


110  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 

Chariots  and  horses  made  their  appearance  a 
thousand  years  later,  in  the  reign  of  Amenophis 
III.  The  framework  of  their  chariots  was  of 
wood,  strengthened  and  ornamented  with  metal. 
The  bottom  was  a  frame  interlaced  with  thongs  in 
the  form  of  a  net,  which  also  answered  in  some 


degree  the  purpose  of  springs.  The  vehicle  had 
two  wheels.  The  wheel  was  strengthened  at  the 
joints  of  the  felloes  with  bronze  or  brass  bands 
and  bound  with  hoops  of  metal.  The  wheel  of  a 
war  chariot  had  six  spokes;  that  of  a  curricle,  or 
private  car,  four.  The  wheel  was  fixed  to  the 
axle  by  a  linch  pin  secured  by  a  thong  passed 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  Ill 

through  the  lower  end.  The  pole  was  fashioned 
with  the  axe.  It  was  of  wood  and  curved.  It 
rested  on  a  yoke  which  was  fastened  to  a  small 
padded  saddle  on  the  withers  of  the  horse.  The 
horses  were  harnessed  to  the  vehicle  by  a  single 
trace  on  the  inner  side  and  were  controlled  by 
lines  attached  to  a  bit  or  snaffle.  Blinkers  were 
not  used.  The  chariot  had  no  seat.  In  military 
operations  it  was  drawn  by  horses;  for  traveling 
purposes  oxen  were  more  often  used.  Chariots 
occupied  by  women  of  rank  had  an  umbrella 
overhead,  held  by  a  rod  rising  from  the  center  of 
the  car.  The  handle  of  the  whip  was  of  smooth, 
round  wood,  and  had  a  single  or  double  thong. 
In  some  cases  it  had  a  lash  of  leather  twisted  or 
plaited.  The  chariot  of  the  Egyptians  was  highly 
ornamented  with  trappings  and  hangings;  for 
these  leather  was  principally  used,  dyed  in  dif 
ferent  colors,  and  adorned  with  metal  edges  an£ 
studs.  The  construction  of  a  chariot  required 
diversified  skill  and  so  particular  craftsmen  were 
employed,  for  the  wood  work  a  carpenter,  and 
for  the  bindings,  saddle  and  coverings  a  currier. 

The  importance  of  the  Nile  in  the  economy  of 
Egypt,  traversing  as  it  did  the  whole  length  of 
the  empire,  early  led  to  the  construction  and  use 
of  different  forms  of  water  craft.  It  is  claimed 
the  first  sea  voyage  of  which  there  is  any  authen- 
tic knowledge  was  made  by  Egyptians  to  the 
coast  of  Greece.-  It  is  probable,  however,  that 
the  art  of  navigation  was  practiced  on  the  Ery- 
threan  Sea  (Persian  Gulf)  quite  as  early,  as  the 


112  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

peoples  who  bordered  its  shores  vied  with  the 
Egyptians  in  antiquity  and  culture.  The  inscrip- 
tions of  Egypt  refer  to  the  use  of  boats  as  early 
as  the  fourth  dynasty.  A  statue  of  that  date  of 
a  naval  constructor  is  extant.  He  is  represented 
as  seated  on  a  stool,  holding  an  adze  in  his  hand. 
The  inscriptions  of  the  fourth  dynasty  also  record 
the  building  of  a  boat  ninety  feet  long  and  thirty- 
five  feet  broad  in  seventeen  days.  It  was  used  in 
the  transportation  of  stone.  The  Egyptians  early 
learned  to  utilize  the  mast  and  sail.  At  first  the 
former  was  double,  but  this  was  afterward  aban- 
doned. There  seems  to  have  been  three  classes 
of  Egyptian  boats,  wood,  basket  work  and  inflated 
skins.  The  last  named  were  "round,  in  the  form 
of  a  shield,  without  head  or  stern.  They  were 
of  all  sizes,  the  largest  being  able  to  carry  five 
thousand  talents  weight."*  The  wicker  boats 
were  used  principally  for  fishing,  and  were  made 
of  water  plants  or  osiers  bound  together  with" 
bands  made  of  the  stalks  of  trie  papyrus  or  cyp- 
erus.f  They  were  light  and  could  be  carried 
from  place  to  place,  past  rapids,  cataracts,  etc. 
It  was  in  such  a  boat  that  Moses  was  exposed. 
The  more  pretentious  boats  of  the  Egyptians 
were  of  wooden  planks  with  ribs  and  keel.  They 
had  a  mast,  keel,  prow,  hold,  lower  and  upper 
decks,  a  scuttle  hole,  sails,  halyards,  pumps,  rud- 
ders and  other  necessary  paraphernalia.  They 
were  used  for  heavy  transportation  and  for  war. 

*  468,750  pounds. 

f  Not  the  same  plant  as  that  from  which  paper  was  made. 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  113 

Though  not  generally  large,  we  have  references 
to  some  that  equal  our  modern  ships  in  size. 
Diodorus  mentions  one  of  cedar  wood,  dedicated 
by  Sesostris  to  the  god  of  Thebes,  as  being  four 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  long.  Another  is  men- 
tioned that  carried  four  hundred  sailors,  four 
thousand  rowers  and  three  thousand  soldiers. 
This  vessel  was  said  to  be  four  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  long  and  seventy-two  feet  high  from 
keel  to  top  of  poop.  Athenoeus  describes  it  as 
having  forty  benches  and  four  rudders.  Its 
longest  oars  were  fifty-seven  feet  long,  poised 
with  lead  at  the  handles  to  make  them  manage- 
able. 

The  Egyptians  sometimes  used  four  rudders. 
Each  consisted  of  a  long,  broad  blade  and  handle. 
The  oar  was  a  round  wooden  shaft  to  which  a  flat 
board  of  oval  or  circular  form  was  fastened.  It 
worked  on  thole  pins  or  in  rings  fastened  to  the 
gunwale  of  the  boat.  The  rowers  sat  on  benches 
or  low  seats,  or  stood  or  knelt,  sometimes  push- 
ing, but  more  often  pulling.  The  sails  and  ropes 
were  made  from  the  rind  of  the  papyrus.  The 
sails  were  often  colored  a  brilliant  hue.  The  ves- 
sels were  furnished  with  cabins,  built  of  wood 
and  painted  inside  and  out,  and  fully  protected 
the  occupants  from  the  elements.  They  were 
in  many  cases  richly  decorated  and  furnished. 
Entrance  was  sought  by  a  door  at  the  front  or 
side. 

The  Egyptians  were  an  exclusive,  self  con- 
tained people.  Throughout  the  virile  period  of 

8    Vol.  11 


114  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

their  history  they  looked  upon  mankind  as  un- 
worthy of  association  or  recognition  and  adopted 
every  possible  means  of  excluding  them.  The 
Phoenicians,  however,  because  of  their  near  prox- 
imity and  aggressive  character,  were  able  always 
to  maintain  more  or  less  intimate  relations  with 
them,  and  it  is  probable  that  many  of  the  devices 
which  the  Phoenicians  employed  and  which  the 
world  copied  from  them,  they  in  turn  owed  to 
the  Egyptians.  The  Phoenicians,  of  whom  more 
extended  notice  is  given  elsewhere,  were  the 
common  carriers  of  their  time.  But  whether 
they  operated  in  the  earlier  ages  directly  for  the 
profit  to  be  derived  from  the  handling  of  men 
and  freight,  or  made  this  only  an  incident  of 
their  voyages,  we  cannot  tell.  In  later  times  it 
is  likely  they  had  well  established  transportation 
lines.  This,  it  is  probable,  is  why  Herodotus 
did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  mention  them. 
History  was  too  precious  to  him  to  be  made  the" 
medium  of  well-known  facts.  But  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  carriers  were  licensed;  were  accorded 
the  right,  as  they  are  now,  to  exact  a  particular 
sum  for  a  particular  service  (no  more  and  no 
less),  with  the  obligation  attached  of  insuring 
what  they  carried  against  the  accidents  of  the 
service.  These  details  came  later,  with  improved 
appliances,  better  protection  and  higher  organ- 
nization.  Wherever  men  have  been  free  to  act, 
however,  they  have,  it  is  probable,  from  the 
earliest  period  sought  profit  from  the  carriage 
of  men  and  merchandise.  But  from  the  time  of 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  115 

Cyrus  to  that  of  Victoria,  little  progress  was 
made  in  the  art  of  transportation,  when,  in  a 
moment,  it  passed  from  the  rude  methods  of 
primitive  times  to  the  luxurious  devices  of  our 
day. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TRANSPORTATION    FORMS    AMONG   THE    PHOENICIANS. 

Among  the  early  carriers  of  whom  we  have 
authentic  knowledge,  the  Phoenicians  stand  fore- 
most. These  interesting  people  occupied  a  nar- 
row strip  of  land  on  the  extreme  eastern  border 
of  the  Mediterranean.  Of  Semitic  origin,  they 
were  typical  business  men,  and,  in  many  respects, 
the  most  remarkable  of  antiquity.  To  them 
wealth  was  all-important.  Their  thoughts  were 
occupied  wholly  with  gain.  They  cared  nothing 
for  fame;  nothing  for  what  their  descendants 
might  desire  to  know  of  them.  This  is  why  they 
left  no  account  of  their  experience  as  traders  and 
voyagers,  extending  over  thousands  of  years,  so 
that  our  knowledge  is  gleaned  from  the  furtive 
glimpses  we  have  of  them  in  the  literature  of 
other  countries.  Except  for  this,  these  people 
would  be  lost  to  us  as  completely  as  is  the  secret 
of  their  incomparable  dyes. 

Phoenicia  possessed  the  trade  of  the  world  at 
one  time,  and  its  cities  were  the  clearing  houses 
wherein  the  goods  were  handled  and  the  balances 
struck.  The  prosperity  of  these  robust,  far-see- 
ing, prudent,  saving,  and  withal  grasping  people 
continued  unabated  for  nearly  two  thousand 

(117) 


1 18  ORIGIN  AND  EVOL  UTION 

years.    Out  of  the  necessities  of  their  lives  many 

of  the  devices  in  use — ^ — «= 

to-day    originated.     ^  ^>^Ljr)*£l  !iiU 

The  greatest,  how-  ""  •""• 

ever,  is  the  alphabet.  The  cuneiform  and  picto- 
rial writings  used  by  surrounding  nations,  while 
answering  the  purposes  of  monumental  writing 
or  a  restricted  business,  were  not  adequate  to  an 
extended  commerce.  This  latter  required  some 
more  simple  and  expeditious  means  of  writing 
up  accounts  and  of  communicating  easily  with 
persons  at  a  distance;  something  at  once  cheap, 
simple,  easily  learned  and  capable  of  particular- 
izing all  the  wants  of  an  ever- widening  trade. 
Our  alphabet  was  the  result  of  this  want.  It  was 
at  first  a  device  of  clerks  and  accountants  merely. 
It  had  no  romantic  or  social  aspect,  and  was  as 
devoid  of  literary  associations  as  a  mass  of  fig- 
ures is  to  us.  Its  purpose  was  purely  practical. 
Of  the  name  of  its  inventor  we  have  no  hint.  It 
is  apparent  that  he  could  not  have  anticipated  its 
absorbing,  far-reaching  influences.  Who  he  was 
we  can  only  surmise.  He  could  not  have  been  a 
merchant.  The  subject  was  too  trivial;  more- 
over, a  merchant  would  not  have  had  the  time.  It 
was  too  vulgar  to  interest  people  of  august  rank, 
and  there  were  no  literati.  Its  inventor,  there- 
fore, it  is  probable,  was  a  clerk,  perhaps  an  Egyp- 
tian or  ingenious  Greek,  kidnaped  by  some  home- 
ward-bound captain  to  fill  up  the  measure  of 
his  return  cargo.  However  this  may  be,  it  was 
purely  a  business  device  and  intended  to  meet 


OF  TRANSPORTA TIOX.  1 19 

business  needs.  It  rendered  simple  what  was 
before  complicated,  and  made  accessible  to  all 
what  had  previously  been  known  only  to  a  few. 
To  the  base,  mechanical  and  crafty  Phoenicians, 
therefore,  we  owe  the  greatest  civilizing  force  of 
all  time,  the  greatest  source  of  progress  and  hap- 
piness we  have. 

But  as  no  perfected  thing  is,  in  all  its  parts,  con- 
ceived simultaneously,  it  can  not  be  claimed  for 
the  Phoenicians  that  the  alphabet  they  invented 
was  an  original  thought.  They  derived  it  in 
part  from  the  Egyptians,  but  from  whence  the 
latter  conceived  the  thought  we  do  not  know. 
In  their  early  experiences  the  Egyptian  people 
possessed  hieroglyphic  picture  writings  repre- 
senting the  simple  sounds  of  the  language.  In 
the  course  of  many  ages  these  were,  through  con- 
stant use,  greatly  simplified  for  the  purposes  of 
the  scribe,  while  largely  maintaining  their  orig- 
inal structure  when  used  for  purposes  of  monu- 
mental writing.  It  is  from  the  modified  form 
that  the  Phoenicians  probably  found  the  sugges- 
tion of  their  alphabet.  The  hieroglyphic  or  pic- 
torial characters  of  the  Egyptians  comprised 
ideas,  syllables  and  letters!  The  Phoenicians, 
however,  founded  their  system  wholly  upon  the 
last.  The  names  they  gave  the  letters  corre- 
sponded generally  to  the  objects  they  resembled. 
Some  of  these  objects  scholars  claim  to  be  able 
to  trace  in  the  pictorial  writing  of  the  Hittite 
people,  a  warlike  nation  of  Asia  Minor.  The 
writing  of  these  last  was  wholly  hieroglyphic. 


120  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

The  lines  ran  alternately  from  right  to  left  and 
left  to  right.  This  last  feature  was  also  peculiar 
to  the  early  Greeks,  who  are  thought  to  have 
derived  the  idea  from  them.  The  characters  were 
ideographic,  i.  e.,  represented  ideas  or  syllables. 
They  were  accompanied  by  determinatives  to 
indicate  the  class  to  which  they  belonged.  Pho- 
netics were^also  used  to  indicate  the  sound  or 
pronunciation  of  words.  So  far  as  scholars  have 
been  able  to  discover  up  to  this  time,  the 
Hittites  possessed  only  a  limited  number  of 
characters.  Some  of  these,  however,  greatly  re- 
semble those  of  particular  letters  of  the  Phoeni- 
cian alphabet,  and  it  is  this  peculiarity  which 
has  led  scholars  to  trace  the  connection  referred 
to  above. 

Prior  to  the  appearance  of  the  Phoenicians  on 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  they  are  thought 
to  have  occupied  the  fertile  lands  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Bahrein  Islands  on  the  west  shore 
of  the  Red  Sea.  The  Man  Fisn,  that  tradition 
tells  us  appeared  miraculously  to  the  people  of 
Shumir  to  teach  them  wisdom,  was,  it  is  quite 
likely,  a  Phoenician  or  practical  man  of  affairs. 
While  we  have  no  knowledge  from  whence  he 
came,  we  know  much  about  the  simple  people  he 
visited.  I  have  referred  to  them  in  a  preceding 
chapter.  They  were  goblin  worshipers  and  lived 
in  eternal  dread  of  evil  spirits.  In  after  time 
they  became  an  agricultural  people  and  were 
famed  for  their  knowledge  of  government,  as- 
tronomy and  letters.  The  canals  they  constructed 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  121 

and  maintained  for  purposes  of  irrigation  and 
carriage  have  been  the  wonder  of  mankind  in 
all  ages. 

The  Phoenicians  were  subtle,  crafty  and  acquis- 
itive; at  once  ostentatious  and  parsimonious.  Of 
gloomy  disposition  and  sensual  habits,  they  pos- 
sessed little  or  no  imagination.  They  never  wrote 
a  book,  at  least  we  have  no  trace  of  any.  Letters 
were  to  them  what  dollar  marks  are  to  us,  de- 
vices merely  to  expedite  business  and  reduce  ex- 
penses. They  attached  no  intellectual  value  to 
them  whatever. 

The  character  and  methods  of  the  Phoenicians 
were  intensely  practical.  Those  of  shrewd,  pro- 
saic traders.  On  occasion,  however,  they  were, 
in  religious  matters,  extremely  picturesque.  Like 
all  gloomy  people,  they  were  given  to  the  wildest 
extremes,  the  grossest  excesses. 

Of  the  benefits  the  Phoenician  incidentally  con- 
ferred upon  the  world  in  his  struggle  to  attain 
and  retain  wealth,  he  took  no  note.  They  awak- 
ened in  him  no  ray  of  enthusiasm  or  interest. 
His  spirit  was  purely  commercial;  dwelt  wholly 
in  the  present.  But  his  selfishness  was  provi- 
dential and  far  seeing,  the  sagacious  selfishness 
of  a  conservative  business  man;  that  form  of 
selfishness  which  has  lifted  mankind  out  of  the 
depths  of  ignorance  and  barbarism.  The  good 
the  Phoenicians  did  was  incidental,  not  premed- 
itated; but  not  the  less  real  on  that  account. 
Let  this  be  a  crumb  to  business  men  intent  upon 
the  acquisition  of  wealth,  who  are  thought*  to 


122  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

care  too  little  for  their  fellow  creatures,  too 
little  for  art  and  literature. 

Homer  speaks  of  the  Phoenicians  as  "cunning 
fellows,  carrying  trinkets  in  their  black  ships." 
They  trafficked  very  much  as  did  the  hucksters 
who  followed  Columbus,  giving  little  and  receiv- 
ing much  in  return.  In  marked  contrast  to  the 
Spaniards,  however,  they  did  not  destroy,  but 
built  up.  It  was  thus  Greece,  Sicily,  Italy,  Spain 
and  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Black 
Seas  were  opened  to  civilizing  influences  by  them. 

The  Phoenicians  bore  to  the  people  of  Europe 
the  same  relation  early  European  voyagers  bore 
to  the  savage  Indians  of  North  America.  Phoe- 
nicia found  the  Grecians  savages;  she  taught 
them  to  manufacture  and  trade.  She  gave  them 
their  mythology,  their  gods,  albeit  of  Chaldean 
origin.  She  gave  them,  also,  as  she  did  the  other 
barbarous  peoples  with  whom  she  traded,  knowl- 
edge of  government,  the  organization  oi  society, 
business  methods,  arts  and  mining;  taught  them 
the  construction  of  masonry  and  the  use  of  mor- 
tar and  familiarized  them  with  the  sword,  weights 
and  measures,  textile  fabrics,  bronze,  gold,  silver 
and  personal  ornaments.  The  voyage  of  the 
argonauts  is,  it  is  probable,  only  an  old  Phoeni- 
cian story,  embellished  by  the  versatile  Greeks. 

Phoenicia  through  her*  commercial  ventures 
made  known  her  culture  to  the  world  and  shared 
it,  albeit  reluctantly,  with  her  fellow  men. 
Egypt,  while  more  refined,  was  reserved  and 
exclusive.  The  latter  did  not  favor  intercourse 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  123 

with  the  nations  that  surrounded  her;  agricul- 
turists, her  people  lacked  the  instinct  of  trade 
and  commercial  adventure  which  characterized 
the  more  hardy  Phoenicians. 

Tyre  was  the  greatest  carrier  of  Phoenicia. 
Homer  speaks  of  its  ships.  He  also  refers  to  the 
incomparable  dyes  of  Sidon  and  its  skillful  work- 
manship in  metals.  The  Phoenicians  were  not  a 
numerous  people  and  cared  nothing  for  agricul- 
ture. Their  education  did  not  extend  beyond 
practical  needs.  They  have  not  left  us  a  work 
of  art  or  a  single  poem.  Their  gods,  moreover, 
were  extremely  rude,  indicating  the  rugged  char- 
acter of  those  who  worshiped  at  their  shrines. 
These  gods,  we  are  led  to  notice,  were  much  less 
numerous  and  elaborate  than  those  of  neighbor- 
ing nations.  The  people,  it  is  apparent,  looked 
upon  them  as  serviceable  but  expensive  luxuries; 
largely  as  intermediary  agents  of  trade  and  good 
fortune.  With  the  methodical  habits  of  business 
men,  the  Phoenicians  performed  their  religious 
duties  with  painstaking  regularity  and  decorum. 
When  trade  was  good  they  kept  up  their  sacri- 
fices and  attendance  lest  neglect  should  invite 
disaster.  In  time  of  .panic  or  war,  or  when  pesti- 
lence scourged  the  land,  or  danger  threatened, 
their  offerings  increased.  Their  protestations  at 
such  periods  became  more  zealous,  more  em- 
phatic. Their  fervor  then  knew  no  bounds.  If 
the  gods  still  remained  obdurate,  the  priests 
and  fanatics  mutilated  themselves  with  knives 
and  lances.  If  inattentive  still,  children  were 


124  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

sacrificed.  Under  no  circumstances  did  the  Phoe- 
nicians ever  knowingly  jeopardize  their  property 
or  personal  safety  if  an  acceptable  offering  could 
be  found,  and  human  sacrifices  were  ever  with 
them  a  favorite  means  of  propitiating  the  gods 
in  time  of  distress. 

While  capable  of,  and,  indeed,  in  many  in- 
stances, practicing  the  most  ferocious  acts,  the 
Phoenicians  were  not  a  warlike  people.  They 
were  diplomatists,  traffickers  and  temporizers. 
They  preferred  to  buy  immunity.  Hating  the 
restraints  of  military  service,  their  armies  were 
made  up  of  mercenaries.  They  looked  coldly  upon 
the  methods  and  doubtful  results  of  war.  Nev- 
ertheless, they  were  capable  of  the  most  heroic 
acts  of  bravery  and  self  sacrifice  when  necessary. 
In  this  spirit  the  city  of  Tyre  withstood  the  siege 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Babylonian  king,  thirteen 
years.  .  It  was  mighty  even  in  its  decadence. 
Here  alone  Alexander  the  Great  met.  stubborn 
resistance;  open  defiance;  heroic  defense;  real 
war;  a  courage  he  could  neither  quell  nor  pla- 
cate. The  fangs  of  the  trader,  backed  up  by  a 
courageous  understanding,  he  found  sharper  and 
stronger  than  those  of  the  warlike  and  savage 
barbarians  he  encountered  elsewhere. 

The  Phoenician  knew  nothing  about  the  neces- 
sities of  history,  and  cared  less.  In  consequence 
he  is  greatly  despised  by  historians.  He  was 
little  concerned  about  what  the  world  said  of 
him  and  took  no  pains  to  supply  it  with  food  for 
gossip.  Idealists  and  moralists  look  upon  him  as 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  125 

gross  and  unworthy  of  praise  or  emulation.  A 
materialist,  he  has  not  furnished  them  a  single 
proverb.  The  benefits  he  conferred  upon  man- 
kind, however,  were  great  and  lasting,  and  have 
been  handed  down  to  us  through  intermediate 
ages  with  little  change.  Civilization  owes  him 
much,  and  the  more  we  know  of  his  affairs  the 
less  we  are  surprised  that  he  found  an  alphabet 
necessary  to  the  conduct  of  his  business.  In  our 
day  we  could  not  get  along  without  it  for  an  hour. 
However,  the  combinations  of  our  time  have 
rendered  other  things  necessary,  about  which 
the  ancients  knew  nothing.  Thus,  we  require 
regulations  that  will  enable  vast  numbers  of  men 
to  act  as  a  unit  and  to  adhere  closely  to  con- 
nected ideas.  Such  regulations  grow  little  by 
little.  They  require  to  be  copious,  consecutive 
and  clear,  and  upon  the  skill  we  evince  in  fram- 
ing and  enforcing  them  will  depend  the  perma- 
nent prosperity  of  our  age.  It  may  exist  for 
awhile  without,  but  only  for  awhile. 

Nothing  is  more  interesting  than  a  comparison 
of  the  business  methods  of  to-day  with  those  of 
antiquity.  Those  familiar  with  our  affairs  are 
struck  by  the  number  of  forms  used.  Their 
object  is  to  economize  labor  and  help  to  a  better 
understanding.  The  idea  is  not,  however,  new. 
Amidst  the  ruins  of  Babylon  are  found  abundant 
traces  of  their  use  many  centuries  before  our  era. 
They  differed  from  ours  only  in  that  they  were 
made  of  clay  instead  of  paper.  Their  purpose  was 
the  same — to  facilitate  affairs.  If  a  building  was 


126  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 

to  be  bought  or  rented,  furniture  to  be  sold,  a  cow 
or  horse  to  be  traded,  a  farm  to  be  leased,  a  man 
to  be  married,  or  a  slave  to  be  hired,  a  form 
especially  adapted  to  the  purpose  was  ready  at 
hand.  Side  by  side  with  these  devices  were  care- 
fully formulated  regulations  for  the  guidance  of 
those  who  used  them.  They  had  the  same 
underlying-  object  as  those  used  by  business 
men  and  others  to-day,  namely,  to  facilitate 
man's  wants,  expedite  business;  cheapen  and 
render  secure.  They  symbolized  his  needs  and 
cravings. 

From  the  forms  the  Babylonians  used  we  are 
able  to  trace  largely  their  habits.  Many  of  these 
devices  have  been  found  in  the  ruins  of  a  great 
banking  firm  known  to  archaeologists  as  Egibi  & 
Son.  The  interests  of  this  firm  seem  to  have 
descended  uninterruptedly  in  a  particular  family 
for  a  number  of  generations.  It  was  trusted  and 
employed  alike  by  the  people  and  the  king! 
Caravans  traversed  far  distant  regions  inspired 
by  its  means  and  governed  by  its  regulations,  just 
as  great  railways  traverse  India  to-day,  built  by 
London  capital  and  governed  by  London  men.  It 
also  acted  as  agent  and  administrator;  received 
deposits  and  loaned  money  on  security,  and, 
among  other  things,  taught  its  clients  how  to 
acquire,  possess  and  transfer  property.  Its  regu- 
lations defined  incidentally  the  business  relations 
of  man  and  wife,  of  guardian  and  ward,  lawyer 
and  client,  the  government  of  minors,  servants 
and  slaves.  It  also  possessed  a  code  of  laws  for 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  127 

the  government  of  its  employes.  For  different 
classes  of  business  it  had  different  forms,  just  as 
we  have  blank  checks,  contracts,  deeds,  and  so 
on.  The  instructions  which  accompanied  them 
were  full,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  minimized  the 
labor  and  risks  of  business. 

Our  knowledge  of  Babylonia  is  rendered  doubly 
vivid  by  these  and  other  ancient  records.  It  is 
apparent  that  the  community  looked  to  the 
Egibis  for  guidance  and  protection  in  many 
things.  Elsewhere  it  was  robbed  alike  by  king 
and  priest.  Everywhere  its  interests  were  neg- 
lected. But  this  great  banking  house,  depending 
upon  the  confidence  of  its  patrons,  dealt  fairly, 
throwing  around  its  customers,  so  far  as  it  could, 
the  aegis  of  its  protection.  Its  carefully  drawn 
code  of  rules  was  not  less  exacting  or  less  clearly 
understood  than  that  of  the  Bank  of  England, 
albeit  they  were  printed  on  hardened  blocks  of 

clay.  Printed  upon  such 
tablets,  hardened  by  fire, 
twenty-five  centuries 
have  not  sufficed  to  dim 
or  efface  them,  and  as 
we  pore  over  these  rec- 
ords of  an  age  long  past  we  discover  anew  that 
the  business  man,  then  as  now,  was  the  great 
benefactor  of  his  kind,  however  unconscious  he 
was  of  the  fact.  While  king  and  priest  enforced 
an  arbitrary  interest  wholly  personal  and  often- 
times narrow,  the  man  of  affairs  encouraged  the 
people  to  be  just  and  to  live  together  peaceably. 


1 28  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 

The  Babylonian  kingdom  was,  throughout  its 
long  existence,  the  center  of  ever  recurring  con- 
spiracies, revolutions  and  sieges.  Its  religion  was 
changed  or  modified  many  times,  and  its  tyrants 
flit  across  the  stage  of  history  like  the  shadows 
on  Bosworth  field,  but  the  great  commercial 
house  of  Egibi  &  Son,  it  is  interesting  to  notice, 
continued  uninterruptedly  to  look  after  the  inter- 
ests of  its  clients  and  to  foster  and  protect  their 
in  every  way  possible. 

The  bank  check  and  draft  used  to-day,  and 
intended  to  facilitate  exchanges,  were  invente^ 
during  the  time  of  which  I  write.  They  had 
for  their  purpose  the  safe  and  easy  transfer  ol 
values  between  distant  cities  and  countries. 
In  those  days  the  seas  were  infested  with 
pirates,  while  robbers  were  undisputed  masters 
of  the  plains  and  mountains.  Travel  was  both 
tedious  and  insecure.  It  was  during  this  period 
that  the  use  of  the  precious  metals  as.  a  medium" 
of  exchange  first  suggested  itself  to  mankind. 
Previously  transactions  had  been  in  kind,  ex- 
changes effected  by  barter.  Thus  corn  was 
traded  for  purple  cloth,  horses  for  timber,  and 
so  on. 

That  it  was  a  business  man  who  first  conceived 
the  idea  of  utilizing  gold  and  silver  as  a  measure 
of  exchange,  no  one  can  doubt.  The  discovery 
of  the  art  of  coining  money  has  been  attributed 
to  the  Phoenicians.  It  harmonizes  with  their 
genius.  It  is  also  accredited  to  a  Lydian  king. 
But  in  respect  to  this  latter,  history  is,  as  usual 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  129 

in  such  matters,  indefinite.  Its  discovery  by  a 
citizen  of  Sardis  would,  in  the  course  of  things, 
be  attributed  to  the  king.  We  strain  our  eyes 
in  vain  to  find  any  mention  of  a  business  man 
except  in  histories  of  current  events.  Scant 
room  was  formerly  allotted  his  acts,  however 
beneficent.  His  position  in  ancient  times  may 
be  likened  to  the  curious  ant  entomologists  tell 
us  of  which  occupies  its  time  in  peaceful  labor, 
planting,  constructing,  repairing,  storing,  while 
an  army  of  pugnacious,  bustling,  fighting  ants 
lies  idly  about  the  corridors  of  the  hive.  These 
latter  correspond  to  the  governing  forces  of  the 
ancient  world,  and  to  them  history  ascribes  every 
beneficent  act. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  things  in  connec- 
tion with  the  people  of  remote  antiquity  is  their 
likeness  to  ourselves  in  habits  and  cravings. 
The  clay  tablets  of  Babylon  evince  this.  Those 
who  used  them  were  far  advanced  in  civiliza- 
tion. Savages  have  no  use  for  formulas.  It  is 
only  when  man  becomes  civilized  that  he  recog- 
nizes the  value  of  order,  the  necessity  of  method. 
The  great  house  of  Babylon  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred employed  many  agents,  and  in  order  to 
carry  out  its  extended  and  varied  aims  it  was 
necessary  each  person  in  its  employ  should  know 
its  wishes  and  the  conditions  under  which  they 
did  business.  A  similar  necessity  exists  to-day 
in  connection  with  the  administration  of  corpo- 
rations. When  men  act  for  themselves,  rules 
and  regulations  are  not  vital,  but  when  men  act 

9    Vol.  II 


130  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

for  others,  they  are  as  necessary  as  the  laws  of 
society.  Indeed,  they  are  co-responsive  with  the 
latter.  Great  affairs,  like  those  vested  in  gov- 
ernments and  corporations,  can  not  become  de- 
moralized without  society  becoming  undermined, 
and  to  be  maintained  they  must  be  adminis- 
tered under  fixed  and  determinate  laws.  Civilized 
government^  the  culminative  act  of  business 
necessities  —  their  corollary  and  sequence.  No 
government,  worthy  the  name,  has  ever  existed 
where  trade  was  unknown.  Its  absence  indicates 
lack  of  ability  or  disposition  to  organize  and  carry 
on  government. 

The  Babylonians,  or  Accadians,  were  an  ex- 
ceedingly versatile  and  amiable  people.  They 
are  accredited  with  the  invention  of  the  cunei- 
form system  of  writing.  They  evolved  it  from 
the  picture  writing  previously  in  use.  The  in- 
strument they  used  in  writing  is  called  a  style. 
It  was  made  of  wood  or  metal.  The  mark  it 
made  when  pressed  into  the  soft  clay  was  the 
shape  of  a  wedge  T.  The  relation  these  marks 
bore  to  each  other  indicated  their  meaning,  just 
as  aggregations  of  letters  denote  words.  Con- 
forming to  their  hieroglyphic  origin,  the  charac- 
ters were  also  ideographic,  that  is,  represented 
ideas  and  things,  thus  permitting  many  abbre- 
viations otherwise  impossible.  Determinatives 
were  used  to  indicate  the  class  to  which  a  word 
belonged,  whether  an  animal,  the  name  of  a 
man,  and  so  on.  Pronunciation  was  assisted  by 
phonetic  characters.  But  as  the  same  phonetic 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  131 

character  might  mean  many  different  things, 
dictionaries  were  provided  giving  the  various 
phonetic  values  of  the  characters.  Dictionaries 
also  were  employed  to  indicate  the  ideographic 
meaning  of  characters. 

The  phonetic  form  of  writing  was  adopted  by 
many  surrounding  nations,  but  was  abandoned 
by  those  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean  for  the 
alphabet.  The  Chaldeans  and  their  successors, 
the  Persians,  continued,  however,  to  use  it.  It 
formed  the  medium  of  inscription  upon  their 
monuments,  and  was  employed  by  them  in  com- 
merce, correspondence  and  literature,  but  while 
various  nations  used  the  cuneiform  system  of 
writing,  the  characters  they  used  were  not  alike. 
Thus,  those  of  the  old  Persians  were  very  few 
and  simple,  while  in  the  case  of  the  Assyrians 
they  were  numerous  and  complex.  In  some 
instances  the  characters  indicated  letters,  in 
others  syllables,  in  others  objects.  Both  vowels 
and  consonants  were  employed,  but  not  to  the 
same  degree  by  different  peoples. 

The  Babylonians  resembled  the  Egyptians  in 
the  versatility  of  their  acquirements  and  in  the 
amiability  of  their  disposition,  but  lacked  the 
aggressiveness  and  initiative  courage  of  their 
Phoenician  neighbors.  The  latter  were  natural 
organizers  of  capital.  Native  merchants,  all 
their  measures  were  prudent,  far  seeing  and  wise. 
They  at  one  time  monopolized  the  carriage  of 
the  Mediterranean,  while  their  trade  with  India 
was  large.  They  also  monopolized  for  many 


132  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 

centuries  the  great  caravan  routes  of  Syria.  They 
were  both  manufacturers  and  merchants.  The 
same  man  purchased  the  raw  material,  manu- 
factured it  and  sold  it.  In  order  to  save  expense 
they  constructed  furnaces  and  smithies  in  the 
various  countries  from  which  they  derived  met- 
als. These  were  associated  by  the  savage  Greeks 
with  supernatural  powers.  They  could  not  under- 
stand how  a  molten  mass  of  metal  could  be 
transformed  into  beautiful  instruments  without 
aid  from  the  gods.  The  arts  of  healing  and 
music  the  Greeks  also  associated  with  that  of 
the  smith. 

Much  of  the  trading  was  done,  at  the  time  of 
which  I  write  (B.  C.  2000  to  400,)  at  fairs  which 
were  held  at  stated  periods  in  the  great  cities 
and,  infrequently,  at  other  places.  I  have  already 
referred  to  these  primary  markets.  They  Were 
also  made  the  occasion  of  festivals  and  social  and 
religious  rites.  Those  held  at  Tyre,  .as  we  may 
readily  believe,  exceeded  all  others  in  the  abun- 
dance and  splendor  of  the  goods  displayed,  but 
lacked,  equally  as  we  may  suppose,  in  social  and 
religious  interest.  They  were,  it  is  said,  fre- 
quented by  eager  buyers  from  all  parts  of  the 
known  world. 

The  Phoenicians  were  commercial  nomads  so 
to  speak.  They  were  never  satisfied  with  the 
common  avenues  of  trade,  and  wherever  advan- 
tage offered,  established  colonies,  using  force  only 
when  they  could  not  secure  what  they  wanted 
otherwise.  They  are  said  to  have  formed  forty 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  133 

colonies,  all  of  them  offsprings  of  the  mother 
hive  and  active  agents  of  its  industries.* 

The  most  skillful  of  sailors,  the  Phoenicians 
frequented  every  sea.  Their  merchant  ships 
were  built  especially  with  a  view  to  the  carrying 
trade — strong,  broad  and  deep.  Their  war  ships 
were  not  less  skillfully  constructed,  and  long 
dominated  the  ^Egean  and  Mediterranean  seas. 
The  superior  skill,  wisdom  and  moderation  of  the 
Phoenicians  formed  the  basis  of  their  supremacy. 
As  an  instance  of  their  deftness,  Herodotus 
recounts  that  in  excavating  the  canal  of  Xerxes 
across  Mount  Athos,  the  Phoenicians  were  the 
only  ones  who  commenced  to  dig  far  enough 
back  to  prevent  the  walls  caving  in  as  they 
descended  with  the  work.  All  the  others  made 
perpendicular  cuttings  from  the  surface.  The 
skill  and  ships  of  the  Phoenicians,  it  is  apparent, 
rendered  Xerxes'  invasion  of  Greece  possible. 
They  organized  his  supply  depots  along  the  coast 
and  furnished  him  transports,  ships  of  war  and 
sailors.  That  they  did  not  show  greater  interest 
and  courage  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  they 
served  as  mercenaries  merely.  In  no  instance 
was  the  Semitic  race  ever  found  lacking  in  brav- 
ery when  personal  interests  were  involved. 

The  ships  of  the  Phoenicians  were  of  fir  and 
cedar;  the  oars  of  oak.  Sea-going  vessels  were 
largely  their  invention.  They  also  perfected 


*  Cadiz  in  Spain,  colonized  by  them  about  B.  C.  1100,  is  said 
to  have  been  the  farthest  colony  they  established.  The  seats 
of  many  of  their  colonies  became  in  time  great  cities. 


134  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

them.     The  ships  of  to-day  are  modeled  gener- 
ally upon  the  lines  they  followed. 

Bordering  upon  Palestine,  the  Phoenicians  nat- 
urally traded  much  with  the  Israelites.  Hiram, 
king  of  Tyre,  furnished  Solomon  the  hewn  tim- 
ber for  his  temple.  He  also  supplied  him  with 
workmen,  metals,  dyed  stuffs,  and  other  material. 
In  return  he  took  in  part  payment  a  mortgage  on 
certain  cities  of  Israel,  which,  when  Solomon 
became  embarrassed,  he  duly  and  promptly  fore- 
closed. 

The  trade  of  the  Phoenicians  embraced  every 
known  article  for  which  there  was  a  demand. 
They  had  no  prejudices  in  such  matters.  They 
exported  timber,  furniture,  salt,  fish,  hides, 
bronze  articles,  woolens,  cloth,  robes  colored 
with  their  incomparable  dyes,  tapestry,  gold,  sil- 
ver and  bronze  ornaments,  exquisite  glassware, 
trinkets,  and  other  manufactured  articles.  They^ 
imported  food  products  and  raw  material,  which 
latter  they  manufactured  and  resold  to  the  peo- 
ple from  whom  they  bought.  They  were  expert 
workers  in  metals.  In  their  early  history  weap- 
ons of  all  kinds  and  many  articles  of  table  use 
as  well  were  made  of  bronze.  One  of  their  great 
industries  was  the  manufacture  of  this  metal. 
They  required  for  the  purpose  copper  and  tin. 
The  former  they  found  in  the  island  of  Crete,  one 
of  their  colonies.  Their  supply  of  tin  they  pro- 
cured from  the  Taurus  mountains;  afterward 
from  Britain,  which  place  they  visited  many  cen- 
turies before  we  have  any  historical  knowledge 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  135 

of  it.  Amber  was  another  article  of  trade.  This 
they  procured  from  the  Baltic.  They  also  car- 
ried on  trade  with  the  country  bordering  on 
the  Black  Sea.  No  source  of  traffic  that  their 
patience  and  energy  could  reach  appears  to  have 
been  too  remote  for  their  enterprise. 

Although  the  Phoenicians  were  essentially 
traders,  they  were  not  averse  to  proselyting  in  a 
prudent  way  in  the  interests  of  religion.  Thus, 
one  of  their  daughters,  the  fair  Jezebel,  intro- 
duced idolatry  into  the  palace  of  the  king  of 
Israel  after  becoming  his  wife.  Her  act  is  said 
to  have  justly  occasioned  widespread  scandal 
and  apprehension  in  Judea.  At  another  time 
the  Phoenicians  greatly  outraged  their  Hebrew 
neighbors  by  offering  wares  for  sale  in  a  city  of 
the  latter  on  a  Sabbath  day.  This  is  not  strange 
as  all  days  were  alike  to  the  Phoenicians  when 
opportunities  for  trade  offered.  Their  thoughts 
were  ever  intent  upon  gain.  In  all  their  voca- 
tions they  were,  it  is  apparent,  industrious,  tem- 
perate, saving. and  adroit.  The  orgies  in  which 
they  indulged  were  safety  valves  merely;  the 
bursting  forth  of  pent-up  reserves.  In  the  lapse 
of  ages  these  outbursts  took  on  the  character  of 
religious  rites,  and  thus  became  not  only  proper 
but  nighly  praiseworthy. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    CARTHAGINIANS   AS    PRIMITIVE    CARRIERS — THE 
BASIS    OF   GOOD    GOVERNMENT. 

In  describing  Phoenician  methods  and  resources 
of  transportation  by  water,  I  have  also,  in  the 
main,  described  those  of  Carthage.  Carriage  by 
land  in  the  latter  country  was  confined  largely 
to  human  beings  and  beasts  of  burden,  as  it  is  in 
all  primitive  countries.  The  vehicles  used  were 
of  the  most  rudimentary  description.  However, 
Carthage  looked  to  the  sea  for  its  sources  of 
wealth  and,  in  the  main,  for  its  supplies. 

The  Carthaginians  were  the  greatest  people, 
commercially,  of  their  day  and,  in  some  respects, 
of  antiquity.  Their  love  of  material  things  was 
inherent  and  overpowering.  Traders  by  nature, 
they  possessed  every  quality  that  goes  to  make 
up  a  great  business  man — the  far-seeing  instinct 
of  the  manufacturer,  the  subtlety  of  the  buyer, 
the  craft  of  the  seller,  the  docility  of  the  carrier. 

Like  their  progenitors,  the  Phoenicians,  they 
did  not  hesitate  to  wage  war  whenever  commer- 
cial advantage  was  to  be  gained  thereby,  pro- 
vided their  ends  could  not  be  attained  peaceably. 
Equitable  in  their  dealings  with  each  other,  they 
were  not  regardful  of  others.  Averse  to  manual 
labor  of  every  kind,  they  employed  slaves  to  till 

(13T) 


138  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

their  fields,  and  mercenaries  to  man  their  fleets 
and  fight  their  battles. 

It  is  always  interesting,  as  well  as  instructive, 
to  compare  our  age  with  that  of  the  ancients. 
There  is  much  in  common  between  them.  Human 
nature  is  the  same  to-day  as  it  was  then,  and 
the  conditions  it  engenders  are,  in  the  main,  the 
same. 

Our  time  is  supposed  to  be  marked  more  than 
any  other  by  the  commercial  spirit.  Yet,  twenty- 
five  hundred  years  ago  the  Carthaginians,  in  their 
fortified  home  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, lived  only  to  trade,  to  manufacture,  to 
buy,  to  sell,  to  carry,  to  acquire.  In  their  polity 
possession  of  property  and  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind were  considered  coincident.  Their  central 
thought  was  the  acquisition  and  retention  of 
wealth.  Everything  that  did  not  contribute* to 
these  ends  was  eliminated  from  their  system. 
Social  distinctions  were  based,,  primarily,  upon 
property;  all  alike,  from  the  highest  to  the  low- 
est, engaged  with  enthusiastic  zeal  in  this  acqui- 
sition; all  alike  felt  the  thrill  of  success,  the  chill 
of  failure.  It  is  said  they  esteemed  every  kind  of 
gain  honorable.  This  intense  devotion  to  a  mate- 
rial idea  had  the  effect  to  lessen  their  regard  for 
truth,  and  among  other  things  the  faithful  ob- 
servance of  treaties,  so  that  unstableness  became 
synonymous  with  their  name. 

A  Carthaginian  did  not  'hold  an  untruth  to  be 
wrong  if  profit  accrued  thereby.  Far  from  it. 
Success  was  the  purpose  and  end  of  life.  He 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  139 

strove  for  it  by  day,  dreamed  of  it  by  night.  The 
embodiment  of  craft,  the  synonym  of  cunning,  he 
lived  only  in  the  attainment  of  material  things. 
His  religion  ran  parallel  with  his  business.  When 
times  were  prosperous  he  palmed  off  the  children 
of  slaves  as  his  own  upon  the  gods  as  a  sacrifice. 
But  when  financial  reverses  threatened  or  waver- 
ing armies  jeopardized  the  state,  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  offer  up  his  own  offspring;  nay,  threw 
into  the  balance  whole  hecatombs  of  children, 
lest  anything  should  be  wanting  to  propitiate  the 
gods.  Crafty  and  complacent  in  the  hour  of  suc- 
cess, he  was  oftentimes  timid  and  halting  in  the 
hour  of  danger.  He  thus  lost  advantages  he  was 
never  afterward  able  to  regain. 

The  Carthaginians  were  barbarians.  Their  ex- 
cesses were  the  excesses  of  semi-civilized  people, 
of  rude  children,  with  capacious  stomachs  and 
good  digestion.  The  age  was  one  of  savagery. 
This  makes  their  mental  acquirements  the  more 
remarkable.  They  were  at  once  an  acquisitive 
and  combative  people.  Their  wars  had  always  a 
business  aspect  —  the  acquisition  of  supplies,  or 
the  making  or  retention  of  markets.  Their  arm- 
ies, while  officered  by  citizens,  were  made  up  of 
Africans,  Iberians,  Greeks,  and  Gauls,  sought  at 
the  lowest  price  in  the  open  market,  like  cattle. 
They  consequently  lacked  cohesive  force  and 
patriotic  impulse.  The  revolt  of  these  merce- 
naries after  the  first  Punic  war  forms  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  instructive  chapters  in 
history. 


140  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

The  Carthaginians  were  not  only  great  busi- 
ness men,  but  possessed  military  talent  of  the 
highest  order.  Hannibal  has  never  had  a  supe- 
rior. Many  others  achieved  great  distinction. 
With  the  instincts  of  traders,  they  rewarded  the 
commander  who  was  successful  with  honor  and 
continuous  employment,  while  they  degraded  or 
crucified  without  mercy  those  who,  through  fail- 
ure, retarded  or  endangered  the  interests  of  the 
state. 

Originally  governed  by  a  king,  the  Carthagin- 
ians found  monarchical  institutions  inconsist- 
ent with  the  fixedness  of  purpose  arid  facility  of 
action  they  thought  desirable  in  a  commercial 
state.  They  required  a  government  that  should 
be  uniform,  continuous  and  conservative  in  the 
application  of  its  powers;  a  government  wherein 
the  servants  of  the  state  should  be  bound  up  in 
the  success  of  society  as  a  whole  instead  of  a 
ruler;  a  government  wherein,  legislators  and 
other  servants  should  display  the  skill,  experi- 
ence and  judgment  that  can  only  be  found  in 
their  highest  form  where  the  interest  of  the 
agent  and  the  principal  are  so  interwoven  as  to 
be  inseparable.  They  accordingly  chose  their 
legislators  from  those  who  had  the  greatest  mate- 
rial interest  in  the  building  up  and  perpetuation 
of  the  state — from  those  who  possessed  most. 
They  did  not  believe  in  patriotism  without  prop- 
erty. The  governing  class  did  not,  however,  form 
an  exclusive  caste.  Access  to  it  was  open  to 
every  successful  trader  or  merchant.  Jealousy 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  141 

was  thus  measurably  avoided,  while  the  govern- 
ment was  continually  recruited  from  the  vital 
forces  of  the  nation.  To  secure  experience  and 
fix  the  interest  of  incumbents,  the  tenure  of  office 
was  made  during  good  behavior,,  except  in  the 
case  of  the  chief  magistrate,  who  served  one  year. 
Afterward  he  did  not,  like  the  presidents  of  the 
United  States,  retire  to  obscurity,  but  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  senate,  of  which  he  thenceforth  be- 
came a  part.  He  also  exercised  other  functions 
of  value  to  the  country. 

The  members  of  the  Carthaginian  senate  and 
the  council  formed  from  it  held  office  for  life. 
The  former  comprised  a  large  number  of  men. 
They  were  chosen  with  the  greatest  care  and 
their  action  was  final,  so  long  as  they  were 
unanimous.  Mark  the  truly  commercial  instinct 
of  the  condition.  The  necessity  of  unanimity 
enforced  conservatism  of  action,  because  only 
conservative  measures  can  be  made  unanimous 
in  a  large  body.  While  the  rulers  of  the  state 
were  clothed  with  great  power,  it  was  so  guarded 
as  to  render  its  exercise  improbable  except  for 
the  general  good.  Particularity  was  observed  in 
everything.  The  duties  of  each  magistrate,  sena- 
tor, councilman  and  office  holder  were  so  fully 
defined  that  responsibility  attached  to  all  he  did. 
Because  of  the  fixedness  of  their  tenure  and  the 
protection  accorded  them  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties,  the  interests  of  the  state  and  servant 
were  inseparable.  The  latter  watched  over  the 
former  as  if  it  were  a  part  of  his  inheritance. 


142  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

Under  a  government  thus  organized  and  fos- 
tered Carthage  flourished  in  uninterrupted  splen- 
dor and  without  internal  strife  for  six  hundred 
years.  No  other  country  can  show  so  magnifi- 
cent a  record.  It  was  only  overthrown  when  its 
system  of  property  qualification  and  specified 
duty  and  attendant  responsibility  was  relaxed. 
While  other  countries,  notably  Rome  and  Greece, 
were  yearly  torn  with  internal  dissensions  and 
their  streets  deluged  with  the  blood  of  citizens, 
Carthage  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  her  way, 
happy,  prosperous  and  contented.  This  record, 
unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  world,  furnishes 
indisputable  evidence,  if  it  were  needed,  of  the 
marvelous  executive  ability  and  talent  for  gov- 
ernment possessed  by  business  men;  a  talent 
equal  to  every  occasion,  basing  its  action  as  it 
does  on  material  needs  and  the  necessities*  of 
events  as  they  arise. 

So  long  as  Carthage  made  the  possession  of 
property  indispensable  to  official  position,  the 
state  flourished.  She  alone  of  all  nations  of 
which  we  have  knowledge,  based  her  govern- 
ment distinctly  upon  the  conditions  that  sway 
men  in  private  life.  She  believed  that  the 
preservation  of  a  country  (including  its  liberty) 
may  be  most  safely  entrusted  to  those  who 
require  individual  freedom  to  advance  their 
personal  ends.  Property  interests  demand  this 
freedom.  She  rested  her  greatness  upon  the 
selfishness  of  men  and  its  profound,  godlike  wis- 
dom. She  believed  men  to  be  loyal,  stable  and 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  143 

discreet  under  all  circumstances  when  their 
material  interests  led  that  way.  She  therefore 
made  the  collective  selfishness  of  her  property 
class  the  basis  of  her  government. 

Such  were  the  Carthaginians.  My  object  in 
describing  them  is  not  so  much  to  extol  their 
capabilities  as  to  point  out  the  similarity  that 
existed  between  their  needs,  their  far  spreading 
interests,  and  our  own.  While  we  are  more  en- 
lightened than  the  Carthaginians,  they  greatly 
exceeded  us  in  the  carefully  devised  safeguards 
necessary  to  protect  a  country  from  internal 
strife  and  secure  the  continued  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  its  people.  More  diversified  than 
they,  we  pursue  hand  in  hand  with  our  commer- 
cial thrift,  abstract  ideas  of  mankind,  education, 
literature,  art,  scientific  research.  Carthage  cared 
nothing  for  these  things  and  encouraged  educa- 
tion only  so  far  as  it  was  useful  to  the  merchant 
and  trader.  The  only  literature  it  left  to  suc- 
ceeding ages  is  said  to  have  been  a  manual  on 
agriculture.  As  writers,  scientists  and  scholars 
produced  nothing  material  they  had  no  place  in 
Carthaginian  economy. 

The  Carthaginians,  like  ourselves,  had  no 
nobility.  The  basis  of  distinction  with  them,  as 
with  us,  was  in  the  first  instance,  wealth.  Great 
and  long  service  in  the  state  engendered  an  inter- 
est in  the  descendants  of  such  people,  but  it  was 
weak  and  inconsequential  compared  with  the 
potential  force  of  present  wealth. 

No  government  of  ancient   or  modern  times 


144  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

exactly  resembles  that  of  Carthage.  Its  methods 
were  simple.  It  protected  its  people  without  sen- 
timent or  cant.  Every  one  pursued  his  calling 
unimpeded.  The  duty  of  the  state  was  to  guard 
each  citizen  from  molestation,  both  from  within 
and  from  without.  It  selected  its  rulers  from 
those  who  were  successful  in  private  life;  those 
who  achieved  individual  success  in  material 
things.  It  took  those  who  had  shown  the  great- 
est foresight,  the  greatest  constructive  talent, 
the  greatest  executive  ability  in  managing  their 
own  affairs,  and  made  them  the  guardians  and 
servants  of  the  people.  This  was  the  sublimity 
of  wisdom. 

In  the  history  of  mankind  certain  conditions 
attach  themselves  unalterably  to  particular  races 
of  men.  In  some  the  capacity  for  business  is 
barely  perceptible.  In  others  it  is  the  predomi- 
nating trait;  this  latter  was  true  of  the  Cartha- 
ginians. It  is  true  of  the  white  race  generally/ 
its  people  have  the  genius  of  m6ney  makers,  and 
possess  in  the  highest  degree  the  ability  to  organ- 
ize and  govern.  In  the  needs  of  business,  auto- 
cratic power — when  not  founded  on  the  good  of 
society — succumbs  because  the  growth  of  com- 
merce requires  security  and  guarantees  of  fair 
dealing.  King  and  noble  may  exist  in  splendor 
and  security  amidst  a  poor  and  enslaved  nation. 
Commerce  can  not.  It  requires  liberty  and  stable 
conditions.  The  decrease  of  tyrannical  rule  in 
every  country  has  been  in  the  ratio  that  its  com- 
merce has  increased.  In  early  times  this  progress 


O.F  TRANSPORTATION.  145 

was  so  slow  and  obscure  that  its  cause  was  not 
suspected,  nor  its  result  foreseen.  We  owe  all 
we  possess  to  the  beneficent  influences  of  trade 
and  the  conditions  it  engenders.  Except  for  it 
mankind  would  not  to-day  possess  a  comfort 
above  those  of  the  cow  or  pig. 

Business  men  are,  above  all  mankind,  the 
wisest  and  safest  of  counselors.  They  alone 
know  how  to  select  good  servants,  and  how  after- 
ward to  secure  efficient  service.  They  alone 
comprehend  the  universality  of  man's  needs  and 
the  manner  of  attaining  the  same.  Good  govern- 
ment is  impossible  without  their  advice  and  far 
reaching  counsel.  Monarchs  achieve  greatness 
only  when  they  possess  great  executive  (business) 
talent,  or  make  use  of  it  in  others. 

Business  ability  was  the  basis  of  Carthaginian 
government.  The  latter  was  founded  on  mate- 
rial wealth;  the  separation  of  legislative  and 
executive  duties  accompanied  by  a  stable  civil 
service.  Men  were  required  to  demonstrate  their 
trustworthiness  in  private  life  before  being  ac- 
corded power.  While  legislators  served  during 
life,  the  infusion  of  new  blood  into  the  body  poli- 
tic, as  members  one  by  one  dropped  out,  was  so 
slow  and  imperceptible  in  influence  that  the  set- 
tled policy  and  self  poise  of  the  government  were 
never  disturbed.  Each  man  had  time  to  learn 
his  duties  and  responsibilities  before  being  called 
upon  to  act.  The  result  was  a  body  of  men 
peculiarly  fitted  to  govern.  The  fruit  of  their 
labors  was  six  hundred  years  of  prosperity;  six 

10    Vol.  II 


146  ORIGIN  AND  E  VOL  UTION 

hundred  years  of  absence  of  civil  strife;  six  hun- 
dred years  of  individual  freedom.  The  justness 
and  far  seeing  policy  that  secured  these  results 
animate  business  men  to-day.  The  same  princi- 
ples that  held  good  in  the  government  of  Car- 
thage are  equally  applicable  and  equally  necessary 
to  good  government  to-day. 

Carthage^ was  a  colony  of  Tyre,  founded  by  the 
Phoenician  princess  Dido  B.  C.  840.  For  several 
centuries,  it  enjoyed,  with  the  parent  country, 
the  carrying  trade  of  the  world.  Its  revenue  was 
derived  mainly  from  duties  and  the  tribute  of 
conquered  peoples  and  dependent  colonies  and 
cities.  Direct  taxation  was  resorted  to,  how- 
ever, when  the  emergencies  of  the  government 
required.  Gold,  silver  and  electrum  constituted 
the  circulating  medium  of  the  country.  A  form 
of  currency  made  of  leather  is  also  said  to  have 
been  used,  but  what  it  was  based  upon  we  have 
no  account.  The  Carthaginians  are  said  to  have" 
introduced  the  custom  of  paving  streets.  The 
Romans,  who  are  accredited  with  being  the  great 
road  builders  of  antiquity,  learned  from  them. 
Here,  as  in  everything  except  the  knowledge  of 
war,  courage,  fortitude  and  brutality,  the  Roman 
was  a  mere  copyist  of  his  more  versatile  neigh- 
bors. 

The  voyages  of  the  Carthaginians  in  quest  of 
trade  carried  them  into  every  known  part  of  the 
western  world,  causing  them  to  explore  many 
seas  before  untraversed,  but  with  the  character- 
istic indifference  of  business  men  to  abstract 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  147 

things,  they  left  no  account  of  their  discov- 
eries. 

For  several  centuries  Carthage  was  the  domi- 
nant power  of  western  Europe.  Her  arms  over- 
came the  barbarians  that  surrounded  her,  while 
her  war  ships  dictated  terms  to  the  countries 
lying  along  the  western  shores  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. But  in  the  course  of  time  the  savage  tribes 
that  inhabited  Greece  and  Italy  acquired  the  con- 
structive skill  of  the  Semitic  traders  who  visited 
their  shores.  They  thus  became  active  and  jeal- 
ous rivals.  To  this  jealousy  Carthage  owed, 
finally,  her  overthrow  one  hundred  and  forty 
years  before  our  era. 

The  city  of  Carthage  at  the  period  of  its  great- 
est activity  is  said  to  have  contained  a  million  of 
people.  At  the  time  of  its  total  destruction  by 
the  Romans  it  numbered  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand people.  The  enormity  of  this  disaster  is 
beyond  comprehension.  With  the  Carthaginians 
died  the  last  effort  of  the  Semitic  race  to  achieve 
political  and  commercial  greatness  as  a  people. 


(148) 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PRIMITIVE   CARRIAGE   IN    THE    PAST    AND    PRESENT 
COMPARED. 

The  continuance  in  our  day,  in  many  ancient 
cities,  of  primitive  methods  of  transportation, 
would  be  inexplicable  if  we  did  not  remember 
that  in  the  orient  the  narrow  streets,  planned 
when  modern  vehicles  were  unknown,  do  not 
permit  of  the  use  of  such  methods  of  carriage. 
Transportation  there  is,  consequently,  still  con- 
fined to  men  and  animals.  In  many  cities  even 
animals  are  prohibited  in  the  streets.  In  the 
suburbs  of  these  ancient  cities,  however,  modern 
vehicles  are  to  be  met  with  in  many  cases. 

In  the  interior  of  countries  peopled  by  savages 
there  are  no  roads,  or  they  are  of  such  a  nature 
as  not  to  permit  of  the  general  use  of  wheeled 
vehicles.  Consequently,  land  carriage  is  still  con- 
fined to  pack  animals  and  human  beings.  Meth- 
ods of  carriage  in  vogue  to-day  in  many  parts  of 
the  world  are  as  crude  as  in  primitive  times. 
Unfortunately  we  have  (for  purposes  of  compari- 
son) but  few  representations  of  the  vehicles  in 
vogue  at  the  dawn  of  and  immediately  preced- 
ing the  historical  period.  Those  we  have  show, 
moreover,  only  the  highest  form  of  transporta- 
tion known.  They  are  such  as  the  absence  of 

(149) 


150 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  151 

general  and  well-preserved  highways  necessi- 
tated. Stoutly  built,  they  served  the  limited  uses 
to  which  they  were  put  by  the  rugged  people  of 
that  remote  age. 

On  the  water,  our  knowledge  of  carriage 
among  prehistoric  races  is  still  more  meager. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  at  the  time  of 
the  Trojan  war  the  only  vessel  known  to  the 
Greeks  was  the  open  ship  or  long  boat,  with- 
out cabin  or  other  convenience,  save  common 
benches. 

Methods  of  primitive  transportation  now  in  use 
in  savage  countries  illustrate,  without  doubt,  car- 
riage among  prehistoric  peoples.  Origin  and  evo- 
lution are  substantially  the  same  everywhere  and 
in  all  times.  The  rude  raft  of  our  day,  manned 
by  Polynesian  savages,  whose  only  clothing  is 
a  loin-cloth  made  from  the  frayed  leaf  of  the 
banana,  represents  the  origin  of  water  carriage 
in  every  age  and  quarter  of  the  world.  It  pre- 
cedes the  raft  described  by  Herodotus.  In  the 
same  way,  the  men  and  women  of  our  time  who 
bear  burdens  upon  their  heads  or  backs,  repre- 
sent the  beginnings  of  land  carriage  in  every 
country  in  every  age. 

The  savage  kaffir,  carrying  a  letter  or  pack- 
age through  the  wild  jungles  of  Africa,  illustrates 
the  beginnings  of  our  postal  and  express  service; 
the  naked  blacks  of  the  Congo  district,  who 
carry  the  merchandise  of  the  country  back  and 
forth  on  their  heads,  illustrate,  it  is  apparent, 
the  beginnings  of  our  freight  and  baggage 


152 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


business.  It  is  this  that  makes  reference  to  the 
means  and  progress  of  carriage  in  different  coun- 
tries and  periods  peculiarly  interesting. 

Notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  evolu- 
tion is  ever  the 
same,  in  a  general 
way,  it  is  not  liter- 
ally so.  Thus,  the 
chariot  of  Nausi- 
caa,  in  which  she 
went,  involunta- 
rily, to  the  rescue 
of  Ulysses,  was 
peculiar.  Alcinous 
speaks  of  it  as  a 
lofty,  well-wheeled 
vehicle,  fitted  with 
a  covering  and 
drawn  by  solid- 
hoofed  mules;  these 
were  led  under  the 
chariot,  he  says, 
and  thus  yoked 
thereto.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  however, 
it  is  probable  the 
steeds  were  only  partly  under  the  vehicle.  How 
otherwise  could  it  have  been  balanced  and 
guided?  Nowhere,  except  in  the  Odyssey,  have  I 
found  a  similar  vehicle;  nowhere  a  chariot  or 
wagon  under  which  the  steeds  were  yoked,  and 


OF  TRANSPORTATION.  153 

if  Homer  had  not  in  other  places  made  similar 
reference  I  should  believe  it  to  be  a  figure  of 
speech  merely. 

The  great  variety  of  primitive  methods  of 
transportation  would  not  be  believed  if  it  could 
not  be  demonstrated.  Moreover,  in  studying 
methods  of  carnage  in  vogue  in  different  parts 
of  the  world,  their  peculiar  adaptability  to  the 
nature  of  the  traffic  and  the  nature  of  the  coun- 
try is  noticeable.  It  is  also  apparent  that  changes 
are  everywhere  accepted  with  reluctance.  New 
forms  are  made  to  adhere  outwardly  as  far  as 
possible  to  those  of  the  past.  This  is  noticeable 
in  the  rigging  and  sails  of  vessels,  in  the  accou- 
trements of  animals  used  as  carriers,  and  in  other 
ways.  In  many  sections  of  the  world  no  progress 
whatever  has  been  made  in  the  last  four  thousand 
years.  Thus,  the  carriage  of  women  in  panniers 
on  the  backs  of  asses,  in  vogue  in  certain  parts  of 
Asia  long  before  the  time  of  Abraham,  is  still  a 
common  means  of  conveyance  in  Bagdad.  This 
is  also  true  of  methods  of  carriage  by  water. 
The  means  of  conveyance  on  the  Mesopotamian 
rivers  and  their  tributaries  in  the  time  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar are  still  popular. 

On  the  vast  steppes  of  Central  Asia  and  in 
many  other  districts  of  that  country  no  change 
has  been  made  during  the  historical  period — cer- 
tainly no  improvement;  the  horse,  the  camel, 
and  the  ass  are  used  to-day  just  as  they  were 
forty  centuries  ago.  These  patient  animals 
continue  to  bear  the  burdens  that  in  more 


154 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 


progressive   countries  have  been,  in  the  main, 
transferred  to  wagons  and  railway  cars. 

The  Ancients,  as  we  call  them,  constituted  a 
link  merely  in  the  chain  of  evolution.  They 
were  the  children  of  mankind.  Their  imagina- 
tion supplied  lack  of  experience  and  reasoning 


power.  They  could  not  conceive  of  motion  with- 
out visible  agency,  and  in  looking  for  this  selected 
that  with  which  they  were  most  familiar.  The 
Greeks,  giving  free  rein  to  their  ever  vivid  imag- 
ination, pictured  their  gods  and  mythological 
heroes  as  mounted  upon  magnificent  chargers, 


OF  TRANSPORTATION. 


155 


or  drawn  in  chariots  of  surpassing  splendor  by 
animals  of  suitable  character  and  dignity.  They 
believed  vehicles  to  be  necessary  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  planets,  as  in  the  case  of  other 
great  burdens.  Among  their  delusions  they  con- 
ceived the  moon  to  be  carried  round  the  world 
upon  a  car  drawn  by  bulls. 


I  give  a  quaint  illustration  of  their  conception 
in  this  particular  direction.  Many  others  equally 
grotesque  might  be  given. 


What  I  have  said  in  reference  to  primitive 
peoples  refers,  it  will  have  been  noticed,  only  to 
such  as  existed  before  Rome  commenced  her 
conquest  of  the  world.  The  immense  distance 
which  separates  them  from  us  surrounds  their 
acts  with  a  halo  of  interest  impossible  in  the 
case  of  those  who  succeeded  them.  They  were 
the  principal  inventors  of  transportation,  and  in 
this,  as  in  other  things  accessory  thereto,  we 
know  that  they  had  the  same  aims,  ambitions, 
virtues  and  weaknesses  that  we  have. 


156  ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION 

In  reference  to  tvhat  fol- 
lows, the  portrayals  are 
those  of  primitive  forms  of 
carriage,  the  bulk  of  which 
relates  to  our  own  age.  The 
rude  forms  of  to-day  faith- 
fully portray  the  primitive 
methods  of  .ancient  times.  In  embodying  them 
I  depict  the  common  usages  of  every  age.  They 
are  exceedingly  interesting  and,  in  many  cases, 
of  the  highest  artistic  merit.  The  account  which 
I  give  of  the  countries  from  which  these  pictures 
are  taken  is  not  intended  to  be  exhaustive,  but 
merely  such  brief  mention  as  I  have  space  to 
embody.  The  legend  attached  to  each  picture  is 
also  intended  to  be  explanatory  and  as  brief  as 
circumstances  will  permit. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 

Of  modern  forms  of  primitive  carriage,  those 
of /India  undoubtedly  surpass  all  others  in  pictur- 
esqueness.  This  country  is  at  once  the  delight 
and  wonder  of  tourists  and  scholars.  The  pano- 
rama it  presents  is  incomparable.  Side  by  side 
with  the  high-caste  Brahmin,  and  outnumbering 
him  twenty  to  one,  we  find  a  servile  population, 
the  aborigines  of  the  peninsula.  These  conditions 
have  existed  from  a  time  far  anterior  to  the  his- 
torical period.  A  continent  in  extent,  India  pre- 
sents kindred  characteristics.  Nowhere  are  there 
more  towering  mountains,  vaster  rivers,  greater 
deltas,  more  impenetrable  jungles,  or  fields  possess- 
ing greater  fertility.  In  one  section  a  temperate 
climate  and  hardy  men  and  women;  in  another 
a  torrid  sun  and  the  effeminate  population  such 
conditions  sometimes  breed;  in  one  section  a 
harvest  hardly  maturing,  in  another  a  multiplic- 
ity of  crops  annually. 

In  the  long  ages  that  have  sleepily  passed  since 
men  first  emerged  from  savagery  many  fantastic 
forms  of  carriage  have  been  introduced  in  this 
picturesque  country  and  are  still  to  be  found 
in  active  use.  They  comprise  every  process, 
from  the  half  starved  and  scantily  clad  native  to 
the  modern  railway  train;  from  the  poorly  fed 

(157) 


158 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


The  elephant  has  been  used  as  a  royal  .carrier  in  India  from  time  imme- 
morial. The  trappings  with  which  these  magnificent  animals  are  adorned  by 
the  princes  using  them  as  carriers  cannot  be  surpassed  in  elegance  and 
brilliancy.  This  picture  is  one  presented  to  the  author  of  this  work  by  His 
Highness,  the  Maharana  of  Maywar,  at  Oodeypore,  India.  He  not  only  fur- 
nished the  author  pictures  of  current  methods,  but,  dressing  up  his  elephants 
in  the  armor  and  habiliments  of  a  thousand  years  ago,  had  pictures  taken  of 
that  period  also.  The  author  takes  occasion  here  to  again  tender  him  his 
respectful  arid  grateful  thanks. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA.  159 

donkey  to  the  magnificently  accoutered  elephant. 
The  stateliness  of  th.e  last  as  a  carrier  adds  to  the 
beauty  and  impressiveness  of  the  scene.  While 
the  camel  is  less  known  and  less  striking,  his 
trappings  and  leonine  aspect  divide  with  his  pon- 
derous brother  our  admiration  and  never  ending 
interest.  The  Indian  ox,  famed  for  his  stately 
carriage  and  enormous  strength,  is  another  favor- 
ite. He  vies  with  the  horse  in  popularity,  endur- 
ance and  speed  as  a  carrier. 

The  vehicles  of  India  are  also  infinite  in  vari- 
ety and  primitive  quaintness,  and  the  degrees  of 
excellence  that  intervene  between  the  rude  ox- 
cart of  the  peasant  and  the  chariot  of  a  king  or 
prince  drawn  by  elephants  or  stately  bullocks, 
while  immeasurable,  are  yet  constantly  to  be  met 
with.  These  diversities  are  the  outgrowth  of  un- 
numbered centuries  of  uninterrupted  evolution, 
for  while  India  has  been  subject  to  numerous 
conquests  and  many  conquerors  since  the  inva- 
sion of  the  Aryans,  her  predominating  classes 
have  practically  remained  unchanged  from  that 
time.  The  water  craft  of  India,  while  not  so 
diversified  as  tjie  vehicles  used  on  land,  are,  never- 
theless, interesting  and  diversified.  The  boats  of 
India  more  resemble  those  of  China  than  of  the 
far  West.  They  are,  however,  in  many  respects 
original  and  characteristic. 

India  is  an  anomaly  socially.  Invasions  and 
internal  strifes  have  created  irreparable  divisions 
among  the  people.  Castes  divide  them  as  with  a 
wedge,  while  the  prevailing  religions — Buddhism 


160 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


CARRIA  GE  IN  INDIA.  1 6 1 

and  Brahmanism  —  could  not  possibly  be  more 
antagonistic  than  they  are.  It  is  apparent  to  the 
looker-on  that  before  the  people  of  India  can 
act  unitedly,  social  distinctions  must  be  greatly 
modified,  and  religious  prejudices  sensibly  ame- 
liorated. 

India  is  a  dependency  of  Great  Britain.  It  em- 
braces an  area  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  and  a 
half  million  square  miles,  and  has  a  population 
of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions.  The  cen- 
ter of  the  country  is  a  tableland;  a  plain  lies  to 
the  east  and  a  stony  desert  to  the  west.  India 
occupies  the  southern  extremity  of  Asia,  lying 
south  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  and  borders 
the  Arabian  Sea,  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  the 
Indian  Ocean.  It  also  includes  certain  adjacent 
islands  under  the  general  term  East  Indies. 


II    VOI.Il 


162 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


This  elephant  is  used  for  transporting  royalty.  At  the  minute  this  picture 
was  taken,  he  is  kneeling  to  receive  his  load,  while  the  attendant  stands  ready 
to  aid  the  ascending  passenger. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


163 


164 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


165 


166 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


The  adaptability  of  the  camel  for  purposes  of  transportation  is  quain'.l> 
illustrated  In  this  picture.  Wherever  he  is  put,  whether  carrying  burdens  01 
drawing  a  wagon  or  a  plow,  we  find  him  equally  docile. 


A.  notable  character  of  Bombay  making  his  way  through  the  streets  of  the  city 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


167 


168 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


169 


170 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


171 


172  CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


This  picturesque  vehicle  is  used  in  Bengal  for  carrying  rice,  grain 
and  other  products. 


A  party  of  sight- seers  in  Bombay. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


173 


A  picturesque  farm  cart  in  the  Punjab,  in  the  northern  part  of  India. 


This  Guzerat  village  cart  Is  one  of  the  most  useful  vehicles  In  the  agri- 
cultural districts  of  India.  The  sides  are  of  basket  work  made  from  cotton 
plant  stalks.  The  wheels  are  made  of  acacia  wood  and  run  in  ruts  about  five 
inches  wide  and  about  the  same  depth,  iu  which  the  bullocks  also  travel. 


174 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


Nobles  of  Gwalior.  The  horses  of  these  noblemen  are  of  the  highest  type, 
magnificently  caparisoned.  The  umbrellas  carried  from  behind  are  of  delicate 
yellow  silk.  The  variety  and  splendor  of  the  costumes  possessed  by  a  noble  of 
India  exceed  those  of  any  other  country.  The  fop,  or  dude,  of  England  wid 
America  is  dull  and  uninteresting  beside  his  Indian  brother. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


175 


(176) 


12     Vol.  11 


(177) 


178 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


180 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


A  human  carrier. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


181 


A  vendor  of  water.    The  customer  opens  his  mouth  to  receive  the  stream 


182 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


CARRIAGE 


INDIA. 


183 


The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  the  elevated  position  of  the  steersman 
and  the  frail  structure  upon  which  he  rests.  This  official  not  only  acts  as 
steersman,  but  lookout,  the  latter  office  being  quite  as  necessary  as  the  former 
in  the  waters  of  the  southeastern  seas,  where  savagery  still  prevails  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent. 


184  CARRIA  GE  IN  INDIA. 


Z^J     ~  .f, 
A  cumbersome  but  picturesque  craft  of  Bengal. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


185 


186 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


Taking  it  easy. 


CARRIAGE  IN  INDIA. 


187 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


Forms  of  carriage  in  Japan  represent  the  varied 
methods  and-makeshifts  which  attend  the  growth 
of  an  industrious,  sturdy,  peaceable,  trading  peo- 
ple. Many  of  the  devices  of  the  very  earliest 


times  are 
directly   as- 
those  of  a 
Methods  of 
in  Japan  will  al- 
ively  character- 
of    other    coun- 
rail roads,   e lee- 
modern    forms 
duced. 

of  the  burdens  of 
in  Japan  from 
riod  has  been 
backs  of  men 
This,  with  its 
giving  infl  u- 
led  with  the  en- 
thrift  of  the 


still  used  or  are 
sociated  with 
later  date, 
transportation 
ways  be  distinct- 
istic,  as  are  those 
tries,  although 
trie  cars  arid 
are  being  intro- 
.  The  great  bulk 
transportation 
the  earliest  pe- 
borne  on  the 
and  women, 
strength- 
ences,  coup- 
ergy  and 
people,  has 


made  them  strong  and  hardy.  They  are  also  brave, 
frugal  and  adaptive.  They  appreciate  withal  the 
value  of  a  liberal  and  stable  government,  but  are 
not  imbued  with  the  visionary  schemes  that  are 

(188) 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAP  AM. 


189 


This  drawing  including  those  that  follow  are,  in  the  main,  the  work  of  a 
Japanese  artist  who  undertook  to  portray  for  the  author  such  forms  of  primi- 
tive carriage  in  Japan  as  would  illustrate  past  and  present  methods.  The 
above  illustration  depicts  a  beggar  drawing  a  cart  through  the  streets  seeking 
alms.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  this  interesting  country  that  the  law  forbids 
begging  on  the  streets  exceot  on  particular  days,  and  then  only  at  *He 
Buddhist  temples. 


190  CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 

destroying  good  government  in  many  countries 
that  esteem  themselves  much  farther  advanced 
in  civilization.  At  the  present  time  horses  are 
used  more  or  less  in  Japan  to  draw  vehicles. 
Formerly  they  were  employed  only  to  bear  bur- 
dens. Oxen,  that  at  one  time  were  used  to  haul 
loads,  are  now  scarcely  used  at  all.  Much  less 
use  has  beenonade  of  animals  in  connection  with 
carriage  in  Japan  than  is  the  custom  in  Europe 
or  America.  Men  and  women  delight  in  the 
hardy  exercise  and  labor  of  burden  bearing. 
The  men  of  Japan  are  noted  for  their  courage, 
strength,  dexterity  and  endurance.  They  are  a 
nation  of  athletes.  This  will  seem  remarkable 
to  the  meat-eating  world  when  told  that  the 
majority  of  the  men  and  women  of  Japan  live 
on  rice,  tea,  vegetables  and  fish.  The  Japanese 
are  both  practical  and  realistic,  commercial  and 
esthetical.  They  are  skillful  in  manufacturing, 
merchandising  and  agriculture.  Their  artistic 
sense  is  exquisite.  Their  cleanliness  and  indus- 
try are  especially  noticeable.  The  Japanese 
possesses  a  distinctive  physical  type,  and  his 
civilization,  religion,  literature  and  language  are 
his  own.  He  has  a  written  history  extending 
over  twenty-five  hundred  years.  The  emperor 
traces  his  ancestry  back  in  unbroken  descent  for 
a  like  period.  The  patriotism  of  the  Japanese  is 
intense,  so  great,  indeed,  as  to  verge  on  provin- 
cialism. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Japan  is 
destined  to  occupy  a  great  place  in  the  future  in 
the  history  of  the  far  east,  and  to  modify,  if  not 


CARRIA  GE  IN  JAPAN.  1 9 1 

change,  what  has  been  believed  to  be  the  destiny 
of  that  portion  of  the  world.  Japan  consists  of  a 
chain  of  islands  in  the  east  of  Asia,  off  the  coast. 
It  is  the  Great  Britain  of  the  Pacific  geograph- 
ically. It  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Strait  of 
Corea  and  the  Sea  of  Japan,  and  surrounded  on 
the  other  sides  by  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  one  of 
the  oldest  countries  in  the  world,  and  contains 
some  forty  millions  of  people.  The  area  of 
Japan  covers  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
thousand  square  miles. 


There  is  something  peculiarly  attractive  in  the  Japanese  art.  The  above 
picture  illustrates  this.  While  it  represents  a  low  form  of  labor,  the  vending 
of  kindling  wood,  the  costume  and  grouping  of  the  picture  make  it  exceed- 
ingly artistic. 

(192) 


This  picture  represents  a  Japanese  nurse  girl  with  her  charge.  In  Japan 
young  girls  are  systematically  trained  to  bear  burdens  in  this  way.  Indeed, 
everything  that  is  done  in  Japan  may  be  said  to  be  systematic.  Crudeness  is 
usually  characteristic  of  a  new  and  untrained  people,  and  the  Japanese  are 
very  old  and  very  carefully  trained. 

13    Vol.  11  (193) 


194 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


A  merchant  carrier  pushing  forward  with  his  load. 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


195 


While  this  picture  is  drawn  with  a  free  hand,  as  are  all  Japanese  sketches,  it 
represents  a  Hercules  in  strength. 


196 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


This  forlorn  individual  represents  a  begging  friar  who  goes  about  ringing 
a  bell,  stopping  from  time  to  time  to  show  the  idols  he  carries  in  the  case  on 
his  back.  He  solicits  alms  for  food  and  to  help  him  on  his  pilgrimage.  In 
some  instances  his  face  is  covered  to  protect  it  from  the  weather.  Noted 
criminals,  It  is  said,  have  been  discovered  wearing  the  costume  and  acting  the 
role  of  a  begging  friar. 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


197 


A  white  wine  vendor.    This  wine  is  sold  on  the  streets  of  Japanese  cities  onlj 
at  certain  seasons  of  the  year. 


198 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


A  perambulating  library  and  librarian.  Books  distributed  in  this  manner 
are  called  for  or  exchanged  a  few  days  after  delivery  at  a  nominal  cost  to  the 
reader 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


199 


200  CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


Beginning  of  the  postal  system  in  Japan. 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


201 


A  vendor  of  kindling  wood. 


202  CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


A  doctor's  attendant  with  his  medicine  chest. 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


208 


204 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


CARR1MSI-:  IX  JAPAN. 


205 


206 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


207 


208 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


209 


14    Vol.  11 


210 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN, 


The  jin-riki-shas,  portrayed  on  this  page,  afford  the  principal  means  of 
transportation  in  Japan.  There  are  said  to  be  ten  thousand  jin-riki-shas  in  use 
in  the  city  of  Tokyo  alone.  They  are  hauled  and  pushed  by  men.  This  hardy 
exercise  adds  to  the  vigor  and  strength  of  the  people.  The  heat  in  some  parts 
of  Japan  is  intense.  When  it  becomes  oppressive  the  coolies  throw  off  their 
clothes  with  easy  conventionality,  substituting  therefor  a  loin  cloth,  straw 
sandals  and  a  light,  airy  hat.  In  rainy  weather  the  inhabitants  protect  them- 
selves with  over-garments  made  of  straw  or  oiled  paper.  The  quality  of 
paper,  however,  is  almost  equal  in  strength  and  durability  to  linen. 


CARRIAGE  IX  JAPAN. 


211 


212 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


*  !J<!  1= 
i  X^i 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


213 


214 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


A  free  sketch  of  a  picnic  boat. 


A  Japanese  pleasure  party. 


CARlilA  GE  IN  JAP  AX..  2 1 5 


Lying  off  the  coast  of  Japan. 


216 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAN. 


CARRIA  GE  IN  JAPAN.  217 


A  war  j  unk  of  the  olden  time.    The  sail  bears  the  emblem  of  the  chief  or  lord. 


218 


CARRIAGE  IN  JAPAX. 


The  Japanese  are  a  highly  imaginative  people  and  have  their  mytholog- 
ical heroes-,  just  as  the  Greeks  would  have  had,  doubtless,  to-day  could  they 
have  maintained  an  uninterrupted  life  as  the  Japanese  have  been  able  to  do. 
It  does  not  require  any  stretch  of  imagination  upon^  the  part  of  the  people  of 
Japan  to  believe  that  one  of  their  gods  is  carried  from  place  to  place  on  the 
back  of  a  crane.  They  have  a  legend  that  the  founder  of  the  ancient  capital 
and  holy  city  of  Nara  visited  the  site,  before  locating,  on  the  back  of  a  deer, 
and, respecting  this  tradition,  these  animals  are  not  molested  by  local  resi- 
dents. The  Japanese  God  of  Age,  shown  above,  is  one  of  their  seven  Gods  of 
Fortune,  his  especial  gift  being  long  life.  He  is  conveyed  over  the  world  on 
the  back  of  a  crane  (a  sacred  bird  in  Japan),  thought  to  live  a  thousand  years. 
The  Japanese  account  of  the  creation  quite  rivals  the  Grecian  in  beauty. 
According  to  it  Izanagi  and  Izanami,  the  first  man  and  woman,  stood  together 
on  a  floating  bridge  in  the  high  heavens.  Izanagi,  drawing  his  jeweled  fal- 
chion or  spear,  plunged  it  into  the  unstable  waters  beneath  and,  withdrawing 
it,  the  drops  of  water  that  trickled  from  its  glistening  point  formed  an  island, 
upon  which  they  descended.  This  island  was  Japan. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 

The  customs  of  the  people  of  Interior  Africa, 
where  savagery  still  reigns,  are  those  of  our 
ancestors  after  they  had  acquired  a  limited  vocab- 
ulary but  were  still  governed  by  the  strongest; 
when  might  ruled  and  the  chief  of  the  horde 
consulted  his  own  passions  and  pleasures  without 
reference  to  the  comfort  or  rights  of  the  com- 
munity. Methods  of  carriage  in  interior  or  sav- 
age Africa  are  wholly  primitive;  upon  the  water, 
rafts  or  primitive  vessels  hollowed  out  of  logs; 
on  land  slaves  and  women  perform  the  work. 
The  distinction  between  the  wife  and  the  slave 
is  very  slight,  as  it  is  with  all  savage  people. 
Africa  may  be  said  to  present  carriage  in  its 
formative  state — the  germ  of  transportation,  in 
fact.  Animals  are  not  used,  and  mechanical  con- 
trivances are  unknown.  The  intrusion  of  civil- 
ized men  is  rapidly  changing  this,  and  thus 
methods  seem  likely  to  leap,  at  one  bound,  from 
those  of  the  primitive  savage  to  those  of  the 
highest  culture;  from  the  burden-bearing  period 
of  slaves  and  dependent  women  to  the  age  of 
steam  locomotives  and  electric  railways.  Thus 
will  be  accomplished  in  a  century  what  would 
have  required  unnumbered  ages  through  natural 
processes.  The  association  of  the  rude  appli- 
ances of  savages  with  the  methods  of  civilization 


(2m 


220 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


in  Africa,  presents  a  confusing  array.  To  see 
naked  men  and  women  drawing  a  modern  car- 
riage filled  with 
civilized  people 
is  incongruous. 
The  vehicle 
strikes  a  discord- 
a  n  t  note  and 
shatters  all 
thought  of  the 
picturesque. 
Make-shifts  gov- 
ern carriage  in 
Interior  Africa 
as  in  other  new 
countries.  The 
absence  of  roads, 
the  impassable 
nature  of  the 
^country,  the  sav- ' 
agery  of  the  in- 
habitants, and 
the  absence  of 
depots  of  supply, 
coupled  with 
other  obstacles, 
jrender  transpor- 
:tation  difficult 
land  oftentimes 

Carriage  in  Savage  Africa.  dangerOUS.         Af- 

rica,  fostered  by  the  great  countries  of  Europe, 
which  in  the  main  control  its  territory,  is  rapidly 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA.  221 

acquiring  inter-communication  by  means  of  rail- 
roads and  otherwise,  and  it  will  be  but  a  short 
time  before  we  shall  be  able  to  traverse  the  con- 
tinent without  changing  cars,  as  in  America. 
Where  mails  a  few  years  ago  were  unknown,  or 
were  carried  by  naked  savages  or  armed  escorts, 
well-equipped  railways  in  many  cases  are  already 
in  operation.  Many  of  the  quaint  methods  of 
carriage  illustrated  in  this  book  have  long  been 
replaced  by  ultra- nineteenth  century  devices. 
But  the  savage  man  and  woman  here  pictured 
have  lost  no  portion  of  their  interest  as  illustra- 
tions of  primitive  carriage. 

The  African  continent  is  a  peninsula  connected 
with  Asia  by  the  Isthmus  of  Suez.  It  lies  almost 
wholly  within  the  Torrid  zone.  Its  interior  is  a 
vast  tableland  having  an  elevation  of  some  four 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The 
country  has  no  great  navigable  rivers  except  the 
Nile  in  the  northeast,  emptying  into  the  Medi- 
terranean; the  Niger  in  the  west,  and  the  Congo 
in  the  southwest.  The  Zambesi,  a  river  in  the 
southeast,  is  navigable  only  a  short  distance 
because  of  its  cataracts.  Africa  contains  about 
eleven  and  one-half  millions  of  square  miles.  Its 
greatest  length  is  about  five  thousand  miles,  and 
its  greatest  breadth  nearly  four  thousand  eight 
hundred  miles.  The  Sahara,  the  largest  desert 
in  the  world,  occupies  its  northern  border,  a 
fringe  of  arable  land,  only,  separating  it  from 
the  Mediterranean.  The  continent  is  bounded 
on  the  north  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  on  the 


222 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


west  by  the  Atlantic,  on  the  south  by  the  South- 
ern Sea,  and  on  the  east  by  the  Indian  Ocean 
and  Red  Sea.  The  illustrations  refer  only  to 


The  first  carriers. 


Central  Africa  and  the  southern,  southwestern 
and  southeastern  parts  of  the  country,  including 
Abyssinia.  That  part  embraced  in  Egypt,  Algiers, 
Morocco  and  Tunis  is  referred  to  elsewhere. 


While  the  cultivated  races  of  the  Indian  peninsula  have  lone  utilized  the 
elephant,  the  savages  of  Central  Africa  have,  except  in  infrequent  and 
isolated  instances,  made  no  attempt  whatever  to  tame  and  utilize  this  noble 
animal.  They  have,  however,  known  the  commercial  value  of  his  tusks,  and 
to  obtain  these  have  been  in  the  habit  of  hunting  him  in  his  habitat  in  the 
Vaat  jungles  of  the  interior  for  many  centuries 


224 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


The  above  picture  represents  a  native  water  carrier  of  the  Soudan,  the 
country  of  the  blacks. 


CARRIAGE  IX  AFRICA. 


225 


15   Vol.  II 


226  CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


A  primitive  postal  agent,  armed  and  bearing  aloft  the  missive  with  which 
he  is  intrusted. 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


227 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


Natives  of  the  Soudan  leaving  their 
homes  for  a  place  of  safety  in  time  of 


Crossing  a  river 

in  West  Africa 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


229 


Off  the  coast  of  Cape  Verde. 


230 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFRICA. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  ALGERIA. 

Algeria  was  known  to  the 
ancients  as  Numidia,  famed 
for  its  magnificent  horse- 
men, the  stay  and  flower 
of  Hannibal's  army  in  his 
invasion  of  Spain  and  Italy. 
The  Algerian  horses  are  still 
noted  for  their  beauty,  spirit 
and  vigor.  Methods  of  car- 
riage in  this  country  are 
highly  picturesque  and  ex- 
ceedingly primitive.  Human 
beings  bear,  largely,  its  bur- 
dens, as  they  do  wherever 
primitive  mankind  are  in- 
dustrious and  vigorous.  But 
the  camel  and  mule  are 
prime  factors.  The  strength 
and  adaptability  of  the  latter 
make  it  useful  here  as  else- 
where. The  camel  is  indis- 
pensable. It  is  said  the 
Great  Desert  of  Sahara  was 
never  traversed  by  man  until 
the  Arabs  introduced  the 
camel  into  Algeria.  It  is 
now  domesticated  and  a 
dominant  factor. 

(231) 


232 


CARRIAGE  IN  ALGERIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ALGERIA.  233 

The  history  of  Algeria  for  the  last  twenty-five 
hundred  years  is  well  known.  Yet,  notwith- 
standing this  long  period  and  the  close  proximity 
of  the  country  to  the  high  civilization  of  Europe, 
it  still  retains  largely  the  customs  of  the  earlier 
historical  period.  Algeria  affords  a  fine  field  for 
studying  the  genesis  of  transportation  and  the 
habits  of  primitive  people.  Its  mixed  population 
of  Berbers,  Numidians,  Saracens,  Jews,  Caucas- 
ians and  Negroes  presents  a  varied  and  indescrib- 
able panorama  of  the  human  race  hardly  to  be 
found  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  world.  Algeria 
is  a  French  colony  in  the  north  of  Africa  border- 
dering  on  the  Mediterranean  sea,  having  an  esti- 
mated area  of  about  one  hundred  eighty-four  and 
a  half  thousand  square  miles,  and  a  population  of 
about  four  millions.  The  native  inhabitants  are 
non-nomadic  and,  in  the  main,  agriculturists. 
The  active  construction  of  railroads  is  encour- 
aged, both  for  military  and  commercial  reasons. 


234 


CARRIAGE  IN  ALGERIA. 


Trader  en  route  to  the  Soudan.    This  interesting  country  lies  immediately 
south  of  the  Great  Desert  and  extends  quite  across  the  continent, 


CARRIAGE  IX  ALGERIA. 


235 


Characteristic  street  scene  in  Oran,  Algeria. 


236 


CARRIAGE  IN  ALGERIA. 


A  trafficker  from  the  country  on  his  way  to  market  In  the  city  of  Algiers 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND 
SIAM. 

In  the  great  forests  of  Burmah  the  rhinoceros, 
tiger,  leopard  and  elephant  still  abound.  The 
elephant  is  captured  and  tamed  very  much  as 
the  wild  horse  of  South  America  is  caught  and 
domesticated,  except  that  a  corral  instead  of  a 
lasso  is  used.  The  people  of  Burmah  are  Bud- 
dhists with  Mongolian  characteristics.  Their  color 
is  dark  brown.  Agriculturists,  they  are  said  to 
raise  one  hundred  different  kinds  of  rice.  It  is 
indigenous,  as  is  also  indigo.  For  draft  animals 
they  use  the  ox;  for  agriculture  the  buffalo. 
They  have  a  small  horse  for  riding.  Formerly 
the  elephants  were  reserved  exclusively  for  the 
king's  use.  This  restriction  no  longer  exists. 
The  camel  is  unknown  in  Burmah,  and  the  ass 
rare.  Until  recently  Burmah  .was  an  intolerable 
despotism.  This  the  British  in  absorbing  the 
country  have  happily  overthrown.  The  habits 
of  the  people  are  primitive,  notwithstanding  the 
great  age  of  the  country.  Trade  is  fostered  by 
fairs  in  connection  with  religious  festivals,  as  in 
the  first  dawn  of  history  in  the  West.  The 
vehicles  on  both  land  and  water  are  ingenious 
and  picturesque.  In  the  upper  country  pack  ani- 
mals are  much  used. 

(237) 


238 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SI  AM. 


f!AltlUA<;K  /.V 


AX1)  SFAV. 


239 


Burmah  and  Siam 
lie  side  by  side  in 
the  extreme  south- 
eastern corner  of 
Asia.  Siam  is  an  in- 
dependent monarchy, 
or,  at  least  nominally 
so,  but  with  France 
pressing  on  one  side 
and  England  on  the 
other  its  independ- 
ence is  oftentimes 
little  more  than  nom- 
inal. While  Burmah 
and  Siam  are  very 
much  alike  the  latter 
is  the  more  interest- 
ing; it  is  more  en- 
lightened, the  result 
of  greater  freedom. 
In  the  north  of  Siam 
vast  caravans  trav- 
erse the  country  in 
the  trade  carried  on 
with  southwestern 
China.  A  picturesque 
feature  of  the  middle 
and  southern  country 
is  the  elephants  that 
are  kept  in  villages 
for  hire,  very  much 
as  we  keep  horses.  The  people  of  Siam  are  of 


240  CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  8IAM. 


The  docility,  great  strength  and  intelligence  of  the  elephant  render  it 
extremely  useful  in  the  handling  of  heavy  burdens.  In  Burmah  he  has  been 
taught  to  classify  and  handle  lumber  with  the  intelligence  of  a  human  being. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SI  AM.  241 

mixed  race,  hospitable,  mild,  patient,  submissive 
and  easy-going.  They  are,  withal,  musical.  In 
In  their  religion  they  are  Buddhists,  but  it  is 
mixed  up  with  a  belief  in  uncanny  spirits,  divi- 
nation, propitiation,  trial  by  ordeal,  magic  and 
other  delusions  of  savage  and  semi-civilized  peo- 
ple. The  climate  of  Siam%like  that  of  Burmah, 
is  tropical  and  the  products  such  as  tropical 
regions  produce.  In  no  country  is  primitive  car- 
riage more  picturesque  or  the  inhabitants  more 
interesting.  Their  olive  complexions  and  esthetic 
costumes  make  the  picture  a  harmonious  one  to 
the  people  of  the  north.  The  area  of  Burmah  is 
about  two  hundred  and  eleven  thousand  square 
miles,  and  its  population  is  estimated  at  nearly 
eight  millions.  The  area  of  Siam  is,  approxi- 
mately, two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square 
miles,  and  its  population  about  six  millions. 


16    Vol.  11 


242  CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SI  AM. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SIAM.  243 


244  CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SIAM. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BUHMAH  AND  SI  AM. 


245 


246 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SI  AM. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SIAM. 


247 


le 
II 

>»  eJ 

.3 


248  CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SIAM. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAU  AND  &IAM.  249 


A  Mandalay  hack. 


A  Siamese  water  craft. 


250 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SI  AM. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SI  AM. 


251 


252  CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SIAM. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BURMAH  AND  SIAM. 


253 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 

When,  with  advancing  age,  men  grow  cold  and 
calculating,  they  no  longer  enter  into  new  ven- 
tures or  seek  to  explore  new  fields.  They  cling 
with  stubborn  tenacity  to  that  with  which  they 
are  familiar.  On  the  other  hand,  the  young  con- 
tinually speculate  upon  higher  and  better  condi- 
tions and  hail  every  change  as  an  advantage, 
without  stopping  to  scrutinize  what  is  likely  to 
follow  in  its  train.  The  old  man  is  in  the  main 
right.  Experience  has  made  him  wise.  Of  all 
men  he  alone  can  estimate  the  unknown  in 
human  affairs.  But  when  it  comes  to  a  trial  of 
strength,  as  it  always  does,  he  is  worsted  by.  his 
younger  brother,  and  this  the  world  accepts  as  a 
justification  of  the  superior  wisdom  of  the  latter 
and  his  greater  capacity  for  governing.  Here,  as 
in  every  instance  in  practical  life,  energy  is  mis- 
taken by  the  crowd  for  wisdom;  assurance  for 
knowledge. 

China  is  the  old  man  of  the  world — the  grand- 
father of  nations.  It  is  not  at  all  certain  that 
the  people  of  that  country  would  be  better  off  if 
they  adopted  western  practices.  Instead  of  a  few 
corrupt  officials,  they  might  then  number  them 
by  thousands;  instead  of  a  few  discontented  sons, 
they  might  number  them  by  millions.  Would 
the  ballot,  so-called  representative  government, 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


255 


256  CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 

electric  cars,  railways  and  telephones,  compen- 
sate for  this?  The  highways  of  China  and  its 
methods  of  carriage  represent  the  pervading 
spirit.  Roads  are  few  and  poorly  maintained. 
To  add  to  their  number  and  to  keep  them  up 
would  increase  taxes,  and  the  people  of  China 
require  taxes  to  be  small  and  diminishing,  not 
large  and  increasing.  Here  again  they  differ 
from  their  more  youthful  and  virile  neighbors. 
The  streets  of  the  Chinese  cities  and  the  great 
roads  of  the  empire  vary  from  seven  to  fifteen 
feet  in  width.  All  are  rough;  all  poorly  main- 
tained. None  of  them  are  uniform.  In  no  great 
country  of  the  world,  perhaps,  is  the  use  of  draft 
animals  and  land  vehicles  so  meager,  as  in  China. 
The  different  specimens  of  the  latter  may  be 
counted  on  one's  fingers.  Men  and  women  are 
the  great  factors,  the  great  carriers  of  the  coun- 
try. In  the  exchange  of  products  between  the 
heart  of  the  kingdom  and  the  distant  provinces 
of  the  west  and  Mongolia  and  Manchooria  on  the 
north,  the  camel  is  a  factor.  Vast  numbers  of 
these  animals  are  used,  and  the  caravans  that 
traverse  the  intervening  country  present  a  never- 
ending  picture  of  eastern  habits  and  impassive- 
ness.  In  some  instances  these  caravans  number 
a  thousand  animals.  Marshalled  by  the  Tartar 
inhabitants  of  the  border  country,  they  bring  the 
products  of  the  outlying  districts,  taking  back 
needed  things  in  exchange.  The  camels  of 
northern  and  western  China  differ  from  those  of 
the  Mediterranean  country  in  this,  that  instead 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


257 


This  craft,  with  its  immense  sails,  requires,  like  many  vessels  of  the  south- 
eastern seas,  n.  counterpoise.  This  counterpoise  Is  furnished  by  an  outrigger 
that  skims  the  surface  of  the  water,  or,  as  in  the  above  case,  by  a  more  simple 
contrivance. 


17    Vol.  11 


258  CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 

of  soft,  light  hair  they  have  heavy  coats  of  wool 
to  protect  them  from  the  extreme  cold.  This 
wool  is  utilized  very  much  as  we  utilize  the  wool 
of  sheep. 

The  few  means  of  land  carriage  China  possesses 
are  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  pages.  But 
what  China  lacks  in  variety  of  land  vehicles  she 
makes  up  in  the  number  and  picturesqueness  of 
her  water  craft.  These  latter  are  noted  for  their 
quaintness;  one  and  all  savor  of  a  past  age,  of 
rude  appliances,  of  primitive  conditions,  of  a  peo- 
ple with  few  wants — easily  satisfied. 

The  house  boats,  so  common  in  China,  occupy 
a  relation  to  men  and  women  not  known  in  any 
other  country.  Children  are  born  upon  these 
boats,  live  upon  them  and  are  buried  from  them. 
One  of  the  reasons  for  the  general  use  of  these 
boats  is  the  crowded  condition  of  the  country. 
Among  the  poor  classes  meager  coverings  serve 
for  a  home.  A  snug  house  boat,  floating  at 
anchor  upon  one  of  the  rivers  of  the  country,  is 
esteemed  a  highly  attractive  residence.  It  pos- 
sesses the  double  advantage  of  being  a  place  of 
abode  and  a  business  house,  where  traffic  may  be 
carried  on  without  additional  rent  or  loss  of  time 
in  going  to  and  from  business.  The  house  boats 
clustered  together  often  cover  an  area  of  many 
acres,  passages  being  left  for  ingress  and  egress 
very  much  as  a  city  is  supplied  with  streets  and 
alleys.  The  Chinese  empire  embraces  a  vast  ter- 
ritory in  eastern  Asia,  and  comprises  five  great 
divisions  —  Manchooria,  Mongolia,  Turkestan, 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


259 


260  CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 

Thibet,  and  China  proper.  It  has  an  area  of  about 
four  million,  two  hundred  and  seventy-three 
thousand  square  miles,  and  a  population  esti- 
mated at  three  hundred  and  ninety-two  millions. 
About  one-third  of  the  empire  is  included  in 
China  proper.  This  portion  has  an  area  of  about 
one  million,  three  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand 
square  miles,  a  coast  line  measuring  some  two 
thousand,  five  hundred  miles,  and  contains  nearly 
three  hundred  and  eighty  millions  of  human  be- 
ings. The  island  of  Formosa,  heretofore  a  part  of 
the  Chinese  empire,  lies  in  the  China  Sea,  about 
ninety  miles  southeast  of  the  mainland.  It  has 
an  area  of  fifteen  thousand  square  miles  and  a 
population  of  about  three  millions. ,  Its  inhabit- 
ants are  semi-civilized. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


261 


262 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


A  mixed  load.  When  conditions  are  favorable  sails  ar  sometimes  used 
vo  assist  in  propelling  these  vehicles.  Donkeys  are  frequently  hitched  to 
them  if  the  load  is  too  great  for  the  attendant.  The  vehicles  have  no  springs 
and  are,  therefore,  exceedingly  uncomfortable— especially  in  a  country  like 
China,  noted  for  its  poor  roads. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


263 


The  above  represents  a  convenient  form  of  carriage  in  the  cities  of  China. 
The  streets  of  these  cities  are  exceedingly  narrow,  some  being  only  four  or 
five  feet  in  width.  The  rule  for  travelers  to  keep  to  the  right  is  strictly 
adhered  to.  Every  one  stands  aside  for  the  passage  of  a  funeral  or  priestly 
procession.  A  mandarin  on  foot  or  a  wealthy  merchant  moves  aside  to  allow 
passage  to  the  lowest  class  laborer  carrying  a  load. 


264 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


265 


i 


266 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


This  is  one  of  the  most  popular  conveyances  used  in  China.    It  is,  however, 
clumsily  made  and  extremely  uncomfortable  to  ride  in. 


Carriage  in  Mongolia.  The  Mongols  go  down  to  Pekin  in  the  winter  with 
their  cattle,  game,  coal  and  other  produce,  returning  home  later  laden  with 
such  supplies  as  they  need. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHIMA. 


267 


These  animals,  known  as  black  water  buffaloes,  are  much  used  in  the 
south  of  China,  Siam,  Cambodia,  Cochin  China  and  the  islands  of  the  Malay- 
sian Archipelago. 


268  CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 

v 


A.  house  boat  on  the  Canton  River.    It  is  also  used  for  carrying  passengers. 


Another  form  of  house  boat. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


269 


On  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  River.  Ou  the  upper  portion  of  this  river  naviga- 
tion is  not  possible  except  for  light  crafts,  on  account  of  the  rapids  in  the 
deep  mountain  gorges. 


270 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


271 


27*2 


CARRIAGE  IN  CHINA. 


A  Chinese  junk. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 

Arabia  is  associated  in  our  minds  with  enchant- 
ment, romantic  creations,  golden  dreams.  From 
thence  came  the  three  wise  men  of  the  East.  It 
is  the  sanctuary  of  Moslemism,  the  birthplace  of 
Mohammed,  the  haunt  of  the  Bedouin  and  robber, 
the  home  of  the  camel,  the  breeding  place  of 
incomparable  horses;  a  region  of  fertile  plains, 
barren  rocks  and  burning  sands.  There  the  Cal- 
iphs reigned;  there  the  patriarchal  state  still 
exists.  The  centuries  that-  have  come  and  gone 
have  here  passed  unnoticed.  Its  ways  are  still 
the  ways  of  Abraham.  Its  methods  of  carriage 
are  altogether  primitive.  The  camel  is  here  an 
indispensable  factor.  Of  this  animal  there  are 
many  varieties.  That  which  is  most  highly 
esteemed,  however,  is  the  dromedary.  Strong, 
docile  and  fleet  of  foot,  it  is  used  mainly  for 
carrying  passengers.  The  common  camel,  slower 
and  less  tractable,  is  used  for  transporting  goods. 
The  flesh  of  the  camel  is  used  for  food  as  we  use 
beef.  Its  milk  is  also  highly  esteemed.  The 
Arabian  camel,  so-called,  has  only  one  hump. 
This  increases  or  diminishes  in  size  according  to 
the  physical  condition  of  the  animal.  A  halter 
is  the  only  rein  used.  This  is  often  dispensed 
with  by  the  driver,  who  directs  the  animal  with 

18     Vol.  11  (273) 


274 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


his  feet  or  by  a  blow 
on  the  neck  with  the 
stick    he    carries.    A 
good  dromedary  will 
travel    between    five 
and  six  miles  an  hour 
for  fifteen  hours  out 
of    twenty  -  four 
for  a  week  at  a 
time.     Six   days 
in  summer  and 
ten    in    winter 
form  the  longest 
period    he   can 
thus    continue 
without  water. 

Singularly 
enough,    the 
mule  is   in   dis- 
favor in  Arabia. 
The    ass,    how- 
ever,   is    highly 
prized  and  grows 
to  a  great  size, 
and  vies  with  the 
horse  in  speed 
and    endur- 
ance.    It    is 
still    found 
here  in  a  wild 
state    as    in 
the    days    of 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


275 


276  CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 

Xenophon,  B.  C.  400.  The  horse  is  the  animal  par 
excellence  of  Arabia.  It  is  claimed  to  be  indi- 
genous. However  that  may  be,  it  here  attains 
its  greatest  beauty.  It  is  perfect  in  form  and 
docility  and  exceeds  all  other  horses  in  the  world 
in  endurance.  Horses  are  never  tied  by  the  neck 
or  head  in  Arabia,  but  picketed  with  a  rope  by 
the  foot.  Oxen  are  much  used  for  tillage  pur- 
poses and  carriage  in  the  fixed  settlements  of  the 
country.  Two-thirds  of  Arabia  is  made  up  of 
desert  wastes  and  barren  rocks.  The  carriers  of 
this  inhospitable  region  are  Bedouins  (nomads  of 
the  desert,  tent-dwellers),  roaming  shepherds  and 
herdsmen — always  robbers. 

The  Arabs  are  especially  alive  to  the  advan- 
tages of  commerce  and  trade.  It  is  said  no  Arab 
undertakes  a  journey,  if  only  from  one  village  to 
another,  without  taking  with  him  some  object 
for.  exchange  or  sale,  and  he  will  sooner  trade  off 
the  handkerchief  on  his  head  or  the  camel  which 
he  rides  than  return  witho'ut  having  effected 
something  in  this  direction. 

The  peninsula  of  Arabia  lies  in  the  extreme 
southwestern  part  of  Asia  and  is  encompassed  on 
three  sides  by  the  sea.  It  is  about  thirteen  hun- 
dred miles  in  length,  and  has  an  average  breadth 
about  half  as  great.  Its  area  is  about  nine  hun- 
dred twenty  thousand  miles  square  miles.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  the  country  may  be  said  to  be  a  sun- 
burnt desert,  with  here  and  there  spots  of  arable 
land  seldom  exceeding  twenty  miles  in  width. 
Arabia  has  no  large  and  scarcely  any  permanent 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


277 


rivers.  Primitive  methods  of  carriage  prevail  for 
general  as  well  as  local  traffic.  The  population 
of  Arabia  is  estimated  to  be  between  eight  and 
nine  millions. 


A  scene  In  Aden. 


278 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


279 


An  Arabian  and  his  steed. 


280 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


281 


5282 


CARRIAGE  IN  ARABIA. 


Freight  transport  off  the  coast  of  Arabia.  The  bow  of  the  boat  is  two  stories 
high  and  used  for  living  quarters  by  the  crew,  the  cargo  being  carried  in  the  center 
of  the  vessel.  Arabia  possesses  neither  war  ships  nor  Commercial  vessels.  The 
tastes  of  the  community  do  not  run  in  such  directions.  Moreover,  none  of  *be  local 
governments  that  dominate  the  country,  have  facilities  for  such  ventures. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


This  country,  while  it  is  so  far  as  we  know, 
much  older  than  India,  its  methods  of  transporta- 
tion fall  behind  the  later  in  variety  and  pictur- 
esqueness.  They  may  be  called 
commonplace  if  we  except  the 
Nile  boat  with  its  far-spreading 
sail,  peculiar  mast,  and  long-pro- 
truding boom.  It  is  the  presence 
of  the  Nile,  and  the  subordina- 
tion of  every  part  of  the  country 
to  it,  that  render  specimens  of 
primitive  land  carriage  in  Egypt 
meager.  In  ancient  times  the 
population  pressed  on  the  river, 
and  men  and  women  bore  the 
drudgery  of  carriage  on  land.  It 
was  not  oppressive.  Asses,  cam- 
els and  oxen  were  introduced 
later.  Nothing  has  ever  been  so 
common,  plentiful  and  cheap  in 
Egypt  as  men  and  women.  The 
donkey  and  camel  are  favored 
means  of  local  carriage  at  the 
present  time.  The  same  reasons  that  make  the 
former  a  favorite  in  other  parts  of  the  world 
operate  here. 

(283) 


284 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT.  285 

The  great  deserts  that  border  on  Egypt  make 
the  camel  valuable.  Here  as  elsewhere  it  is  the 
docile  creature  of  man's  exactions  and  bears  its 
burdens  uncomplainingly,  albeit  without  intelli- 
gence or  cheerfulness.  Railways  and  other  new 
avenues  of  transportation  make  the  camel  less  a 
factor  than  formerly.  Before  the  construction  of 
the  Suez  Canal  the  coal  used  on  the  steam  vessels 
on  the  Red  Sea  was  carried  across  the  isthmus  on 
the  backs  of  these  animals.  The  considerable 
commerce  that  ebbed  and  flowed  across  the  strip 
of  sand,  now  pierced  by  the  canal,  was  also  han- 
dled formerly  on  the  backs  of  camels. 

Egypt  occupies  the  northeastern  extremity  of 
Africa.  It  is  bordered  by  the  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean on  the  north,  and  by  the  Red  Sea  on 
the  east.  It  is  bounded  by  Nubia  on  the  south 
and  by  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara  on  the  west. 
The  area  of  Egypt  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  square  miles. 
It  has  a  population  of  about  seven  millions. 
Through  the  country  from  south  to  north  flows 
the  Nile  River,  which  annually  overflows  its 
banks,  thus  fertilizing  the  valley,  some  eight 
miles  wide  and  eight  hundred  miles  long.  This 
valley,  with  its  subsidiary  plains,  forms  the^ 
agricultural  resource  of  the  country,  as  there  are 
no  rains. 


286 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


A  Bedouin.  These  people  live  in  tents  in  the  desert  and  are  nomadic. 
They  regard  the  plundering  of  caravans  as  taking  the  place  of  passports  or 
custom  dues  required  elsewhere.  They  look  upon  travelers  as  trespassers 
upon  their  property. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT.  287 


A  Soudanese  warrior. 


288 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


An  Arab  lady  making  her  way  through  the  streets  of  Cairo. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


289 


A  primitive  carrier  of  the  Upper  Nile, 


19    Vol.  11 


290 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


Picturesque  water  carriers  of  Alexandria.  The  tube  or  cylinder  reaching 
from  the  nose  to  the  center  of  the  forehead,  according  to  Mohammedan  tradi- 
tion, is  the  instrument  through  which  celestial  communication  is  made,  should 
the  wearer  be  so  favored. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


291 


An  Egyptian  water  carrier. 


•232 


CARRIAGE  IN  EGYPT. 


A  Nile  boat.    The  sail  is  very  large  and  is  fastened  to  a  boom,  which  crosses 
and  is  attached  to  the  mast. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  COREA, 

Corea  is  a  semi-independent  kingdom  lying  to 
the  northwest  of  Japan  on  a  peninsula  jutting 
out  from  the  Chinese  coast.  It  has  an  area  of 

about  ninety  thousand 
square  miles,  and  a 
population  estimated  at 
about  nine  millions. 
The  peninsula  is  some 
five  hundred  miles  long 
and  has  an  average 
width  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  miles.  Corea 
has  no  railroads  and 
''there  are  but  three  ways 
of  traveling,  namely,  in 
chairs,  on  horseback 
and  on  foot.  Travelers 
usually  take  their  food 
with  them,  and  if  they 
do  not  take  bedding, 
they  are  compelled  to 
sleep  on  the  floor,  as 
the  inns  are  not  pro- 
vided with  beds.  Accommodations  for  travelers 
are  very  primitive.  The  people  are,  however, 
kindly  and  peaceful. 


294 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


295 


A  Corean  laundress  going  to  the  river  to  wash. 


296 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


A  Corean  vender  of  candy. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


297 


A  Corean  lantern  carrier. 


298 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


299 


300 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


CARRIAGE  IN  COREA. 


A  Corean  palanquin. 


A  sedan  chair  used  by  the  higher  class. 


302 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


303 


304 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


A  Corean  boat. 


A  Corean  junk  under  way. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CORE  A. 


305 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA. 

Methods  of  transportation  in  this  region,  some- 
times called  the  Indian  Archipelago,  present 
nothing  new  except  in  water  carriage.  The 
Malays  belong  to  the  Mongolian  family  and  par- 
take of  its  characteristics.  They  are,  however, 
courageous,  venturesome,  hardy  and  warlike. 
Living  on  the  borders  of  the  sea,  they  are  much 
upon  its  waters.  They  are  good  sailors,  but  poor 
constructors.  Their  ideas  are  but  little  farther 
advanced  than  those  of  the  North  American 
Indians.  In  the  main,  their  vessels  are  canoes 
hollowed  out  of  logs  with  balancing  outriders  to 
steady  them.  In  this  latter  idea  they  have 
improved  on  the  dug-out  of  the  Red  men.  While 
the  people  of  Europe  or  America  would  hardly 
venture  to  sea  in  vessels  considered  of  the  high- 
est order  in  Malaysia,  we  concede  their  craft  a 
picturesqueness  that  we  do  not  accord  our  own 
vessels.  But  here  commendation  ceases.  In 
connection  with  the  larger  islands  making  up  the 
Malay  Archipelago  or  Dutch  East  Indies  (notably 
Sumatra,  Java  and  Borneo),  higher  excellence  in 
methods  of  carriage  is  attained  than  elsewhere. 
But  even  here  it  is  very  crude.  The  vessels  are 
cumbersome  and  lacking  in  important  essentials. 
Carriage  on  land  is  still  more  backward.  The 
camel  and  ass  do  not  thrive  in  this  locality,  and 

(306) 


CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA.  307 

the  horse  is  a  luxury  rather  than  a  staple  article. 
The  buffalo  and  Indian  bullock  of  the  Brahma 
species  are  the  domesticated  animals  most  in  use. 
The  Malay  Archipelago  is  situated  southeast  of 
Asia  between  the  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans,  and 
embraces  the  most  extensive  group  of  islands  in 
the  world.  Among  them  are  Java,  Sumatra, 
Borneo,  Celebes,  Philippine,  Moluccas,  Floris  and 
Band  a. 


Javanese  craft.    Nothing  could  seemingly  be  more  cool  arid  inviting  than 
this.    Tet  it  is  probable  that  the  thermometer  is  100  degrees  above  zero. 


308 


CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA. 


309 


310 


CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA. 


A  primitive  war  vessel.  The  arm  of  the  outrigger  is  used  to  carry  the 
warriors  and  at  the  same  time  trim  the  vessel.  The  sail  is  made  of  skins  fast- 
ened to  bamboo  poles.  The  end  of  the  sail  resting  on  the  stern  of  the  boat  is 
held  in  place  by  guy  ropes  from  the  sides. 


CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA. 


311 


A  characteristic  Malay  craft.    The  outrigger  steadies  the  vessel,  it  will  be 
noticed,  and  thus  permits  a  great  spread  of  canvas. 


312 


CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA 


CARRIAGE  IN  MAYLASIA. 


313 


Off  the  coast  of  Java.  It  is  said  that  the  method  of  rigging  sailing  vessels 
in  the  classical  period  was  the  same  as  the  above,  namely,  one  mast  with  two 
yards  and  a  square  sail. 


314 


CARRIAGE  IN  MAYLASIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  MALAYSIA. 


315 


A  Borneo  peddler. 


Carriage  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND 
ARMENIA. 

These  countries,  about  which  we  hear  so  much 
the  greater  part  of  which  is  unjust  to  their  rulers, 
contains  within  their  widely  extended  and  irreg- 
ular boundaries  many  interesting  monuments  of 

events  that  have  been  of 
vast  consequence  to  the 
human  race  in  the  past. 

The  site  of  ancient  Troy 
is  but  a  few  hours'  ride 
from  Constantinople. 
Sardis,  Croasus'  caprital, 
where  money  is  said  to 
have  been  first  coined,  is 
but  a  little  further.  The 
subjects  of  Turkey  tend 
their  flocks  on  the  sites 
of  ancient  Nineveh  and 
Babylon.  The  Chaldeans, 
who  were  old  before  the 
Hebrew  race  existed  or 
the  Bible  had  been  con- 
ceived, believed  the  ark 
to  have  rested  on  Jebel  Judi,  on  the  Upper  Tigris. 
There  were  similar  Syriac  and  Arabian  traditions. 
The  sites  of  Tarsus  and  opulent  Antioch  lie  within 

(316) 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA.  317 

Turkish  territory.  The  greatest  voyagers,  traffick- 
ers and  maritime  traders  of  antiquity,  the  Phoeni- 
cians, had  their  home  at  Tyre  and  Sidon,  along  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  what  is  now 
known  as  Asiatic  Turkey.  Jerusalem  and  Palestine 
lie  im  mediately  east.  Still  further  on  lies  Chaldea, 
the  birthplace  of  the  human  race  in  the  estimation 
of  many,  and  from  whence  sprung  the  culture  of 
the  west.  It  is  now  desolate  and  its  people  have 
passed  away,  but  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates 


remain,  and  by  their  aid  we  are  able  to  identify 
the  spot.  Upon  these  streams  little  change  has 
occurred.  The  same  circular  boats,  the  same 
curious  rafts  borne  upon  inflated  skins  that 
Herodotus  described  twenty-three  hundred  years 
ago,  are  to-day  the  principal  means  of  carriage. 
Greece,  the  theme  of  poets,  philosophers  and 
scholars,  was  until  recently  a  part  of  European 
Turkey.  The  country  where  Carthage  stood  has 
rendered  Turkey  tribute.  Macedonia,  where 
Philip  reigned  and  from  whence  Alexander 


318 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA. 


started  on  his  conquest  of  Asia,  still  forms  a  part 
of  Turkey.  Egypt,  the  country  of  the  Nile  and 
old  beyond  calculation,  now  renders  it  tribute. 
Such  is  Turkey.  All  the  great  events  of  extreme 
antiquity,  it  will  thus  be  seen,  occurred  within 

its  jurisdiction. 

Everything  about 
the  country  savors 
of  ancient  times,  of 
primitive  conditions. 
Opposite  Constanti- 
nople on  the  southern 
shores  of  the  Euxine 
(Black  Sea)  the  great- 
est of  primitive  car- 
riers, the  mule,  was 
first  bred,  Herodotus 
tells  us.  No  minor 
event  in  ancient  his- 
tory surpassed  this  in 
practical  importance. 
Turkey  embraces  so 
many  distinct  forms 
of  primitive  carriage 
that  a  description  of 
them  covers  meth- 
ods of  transporta- 
tion in  many  other 
quarters  of  the  world.  In  Syria  (the  battlefield 
in  ancient  times  of  the  Hittites,  Aramaneans, 
Assyrians,  Egyptians,  Chaldeans  and  Hebrews), 
the  camel  and  ass  are  the  prominent  factors; 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA.          319 

and  as  we  are  familiar  with  their  nature  as 
illustrated  elsewhere  herein  they  need  not  be 
repeated  here.  Old  forms  of  carriage  are  every- 
where maintained  throughout  Turkey. 

Constantinople  is  distinctly  oriental.  Many  of 
its  streets  are  so  narrow  that  animals  and  vehi- 
cles are  excluded,  the  burdens  of  carriage  being 
borne  wholly  by  men.  Outside  of  Constantino- 
ple, in  European  Turkey,  however,  methods  of 
transportation  are  rather  European  than  oriental. 


They  are,  however,  simple  and  primitive.  This 
territory  covers  what  is  known  as  ancient  Thrace. 
It  has  been  a  battlefield  from  the  earliest  ages. 
Its  savage  tribes  have  never  responded  kindly  to 
civilizing  influences.  When  Greece  and  Rome 
were  the  centers  of  culture,  Thrace  was  the 
scene  of  tumult  and  savage  warfare.  The  ad- 
vancement that  follows  security  and  order  main- 
tained over  a  long  period  has  never  been  known 
in  this  region.  The  truth  of  this  is  shown  in  the 


320  CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA. 

poverty  of  the  people  and  their  rude  forms  of 
carriage. 

The  Mohammedans  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
incline  to  agricultural  or  pastoral  life.  The 
Christians  and  Jews  are  traders.  Pioneer  rail- 
roads are  forming  in  Turkey,  but  the  outlook  is 
not  hopeful  for  their  general  introduction.  The 
agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  the 
empire  do  not  warrant  it.  Turkey,  or  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  has  an  area  of  over  a  million  square 
miles,  occupying  the  southeastern  corner  of 
Europe  and  the  western  portion  of  Asia,  omit- 
ting Arabia  and  part  of  ancient  Armenia.  Its 
population  is  estimated  to  be  about  twenty-one 
millions.  Egypt  is  nominally  a  dependency  of 
Turkey.  Armenia,  a  country  formerly  compris- 
ing so  extensive  a  portion  of  Western  Asia,  is 
now  divided  between  Russia,  Turkey  and  Persia. 
The  Armenia  of  ancient  times  is  no  more.  It 
occupied  an  elevated  tableland  high  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  culminating  in  the  peak  of  Ara- 
rat. It  was  watered  by  the  Euphrates.  Tigris 
and  tributary  streams,  and  abounded  in  romantic 
scenery  and  luxurious  pasture  land. 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA. 


321 


A  Syrian  carrier.  It  is  estimated  that  the  transit  trade  of  Syria  employs 
eighty  thousand  beasts  and  about  thirty  thousand  drivers.  Lack  of  good 
roads  is  a  great  impediment  to  commerce,  those  that  exist  being  mere  mule 
or  camel  tracks. 


21    Vol.  11 


322 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA. 


This  form  of  carriage,  so  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  Bagdad  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Mesopotamian  Valley,  was  the  fashionable  form  of  conveyance 
in  that  locality  four  thousand  years  ago. 


Carriage  in  Erzeroum.    This  city  is  the  chief  halting  station  for  caravans  from 
Teheran,  the  capital  of  Persia,  to  Palestine  and  the  Arabian  peninsula. 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA.          323 


A  Kurdish  chief.    These  people  are  only  semi-civilized  aiid  are  much 
given  to  brigandage. 


324  CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA. 


Carriage  in  Armenia. 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA.  325 


326  CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA. 


327 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  AFGHANISTAN. 

Afghanistan  comprises  the  mountainous  region 
between  Northwestern  India  and  Eastern  Persia, 
its  extreme  dimensions  being  about  six  hundred 
miles  miles  north  and  south  and  a  like  distance 
east  and  west.  Its  roads  are  few  and  poorly 
maintained,  as  in  all  semi-civilized  countries. 
The  precursor  of  the  public  highway,  the  narrow 
path  of  the  primitive  savage,  is  the  chief  avenue 
of  commerce.  Along  its  narrow  way  commerce 
drifts  through  the  valleys  and  in  and  out  among 
the  gorges  and  mountain  passes.  The  country 
is  rugged  and  mountainous.  Its  population  is 
divided  into  settled  communities  and  tent 
dwellers  or  semi-nomadics.  The  great  wealth  of 
the  latter  consists  of  herds.  While  Afghanistan 
has  a  central  ruler,  the  community  is  made  up  of 
tribes  and  clans  as  in  the  early  ages  of  a  people's 
development.  The  Afghans  have  fine  physiques, 
and  are  said  to  be  extremely  vain  of  their  history, 
persons  and  acquirements.  They  are  said  to 
possess  cruelty  and  love  of  bloodshed,  character- 
istics of  semi-savage  people.  The  Afghan  is 
characterized  as  a  "bird  of  prey,"  and  while  he 
may  not  himself  rob  his  guest,  will  suggest  it  to 
others.  The  camel  is  the  principal  carrier  of 
Afghanistan.  It  is  more  rugged  than  that  of 
India.  The  horses  of  the  country  are  small. 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFGHANISTAN. 


329 


Many,  however,  are  raised  for  export.  In  the 
wars  of  Afghanistan  with  India  the  elephant  has 
been  an  important  adjunct.  The  humpback  ox 


of  India  is  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  Afghan- 
istan. The  chief  reliance  of  the  country,  how- 
ever, is  the  Arabian  (single  hump)  camel.  As 
there  are  nc  great  lakes  or  water  courses  ii 


330 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFGHANISTAN. 


Afghanistan,  water  crafts  are  few  and  meager 
in  design.  In  the  mountain  streams  the  raft 
borne  by  inflated  skins  is  to  be  met  with. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  possible  that  here  is  where  it 
came  from  in  the  first  place.  The  people  of 
Afghanistan  believe  that  man  originated  in  their 
country  and  it  has  been  claimed  to  have  been  the 
original  home  of  the  Aryan  race.  Afghanistan 
has  an  area  of  about  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  square  miles  and  a  population 
estimated  at  five  millions. 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFGHANISTAN. 


331 


ID  one  of  the  wars  of  Afghanistan  with  India  it  was  the  province  of  this 
particular  elephant  to  act  as  a  scavenger  in  the  removal  of  dead  camels  and 
other  animals  that  accumulated  on  the  battlefield  and  about  the  army. 


332 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFGHANISTAN. 


CARRIAGE  IN  AFGHANISTAN. 


333 


-SS 

O   *    £ 


II  S 

ft.  c 
5  ° 
oo  T3 

II! 


III 


III 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND 
MOROCCO. 

Tunis  embraces  within  its  territory  the  site  of 
ancient  Carthage,  the  seat  of  Carthaginian  power 
for  six  hundred  years.  It  is  under  the  protector- 
ate of  France  and  lies  to  the  northeast  of  Algiers, 

in  an  angle  of  the  Medi- 
terranean. The  first  ac- 
count of  it  we  have  dates 
back  to  about  B.  C.  1100. 
Afterward,  while  domi- 
nated by  the  Carthagin- 
ians, it  was  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation.-  To- 
day it  is  but  little,  if  any, 
further  advanced  than 
Arabia.  The  donkey  and 
camel  are  the  chief  car- 
riers. Bordering  on  the 
Great  Desert,  the  camel  is 
an  important  factor,  and 
the  commerce  that  is  car- 
ried on  with  the  Soudan 
country  is  handled  on  its 
back. 

Morocco  is  even  less  advanced  than  Tunis.  It 
has  no  railroads  whatever,  while  Tunis  is  favored 
in  this  direction;  albeit,  but  slightly.  In  Morocco 

(334) 


CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND  MOROCCO. 


335 


public  roads  which  may  be  traversed  by  vehicles 
are  unknown.  It  has  paths  only;  those  of  the 
primitive  savage.  Along  these,  men,  women  and 
donkeys  pursue  their  way  as  in  the  early  history 
of  man. 

It  is  said  that  Tangier  has  only  one  cart,  and 
that  the  carriages  which  have  been  presented  to 
the  emperor  at  various  times,  he  is  unable  to  use, 


except  in  his  own  grounds.  What  an  interesting 
country  this  must  be  to  visit;  quaint,  primitive, 
slow-going,  drowsy,  mysterious.  Morocco  is  the 
Mauretania  of  the  ancients.  It  lies  directly  across 
the  channel  from  Gibralter.  Like  Tunis  and 
Algiers,  it  borders  on  the  desert.  This  suggests 
the  use  of  camels.  They  alone  are  able  to  trav- 
erse the  great  waste.  Everywhere  one  goes  in 
Morocco  these  patientf  sad-eyed  animals  greet 


336  CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND  MOROCCO. 

him.  The  wealth  of  Morocco  consists  largely  of 
herds.  Trade  and  commerce,  worthy  to  be  thus 
named,  hardly  exist.  Tunis  is  about  four  hun- 
dred and  forty  miles  long  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  wide,  having  an  estimated  area  of 
seventy  thousand  square  miles.  The  inhabitants 
number  about  one  and  a  half  millions.  Morocco 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  northeast  by  Algeria,  east  and  south  by  the 
Great  Desert,  and  west  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It 
has  an  area  of  about  one  hundred  and  ninety 
thousand  five  hundred  square  miles,  and  a  popu- 
lation estimated  at  six  millions. 


CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND  MOROCCO:  337 


In  Tangier. 


22    Vol.  11 


338  CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND  MOROCCO. 


In  Morocco. 


CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND  MOROCCO,  S39 


Moorish  Warrior. 


340  CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND  MOROCCO. 


In  Morocco. 


CARRIAGE  IN  TUNIS  AND  MOROCCO.  341 


A  market  scene. 


A  means  of  travel  among  the  favored  few  in  Morocco. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  PERSIA. 

The  name  Persia  conjures  up  many  mem- 
ories to  the  lover  of  ancient  history.  It  recalls 
Cyrus  the  Great  and  his  subjugation  of  Media, 
Babylon  and  Susa  and  the  downfall  of  Croesus, 
Xerxes'  invasion  of  Greece,  the  Retreat  of  the 
Ten  Thousand,  and,  finally,  the  conquest  of  the 
Persian  Empire  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Great 
King  by  Alexander. 

The  Persia  of  our  day  is  much  larger  than  the 
diminutive  kingdom  out  of  which  Cyrus  first 
marched  his  army.  But  the  people  are  not  the 
people  of  Cyrus;  they  lack  their  enterprise, 
physique  and  homogeneity.  Persia  has  a  mixed 
population,  such  as  we  might  expect  to  find  in  a 
country  that  has  been  a  battlefield  for  thousands 
of  years  and  the  focus  of  many  invasions  and 
counter-invasions.  Its  methods  of  carriage  con- 
form to  physical  and  social  conditions  and  differ 
little  from  what  they  were  in  the  time  of  Cyrus, 
twenty-four  hundred  years  ago.  While  the  dis- 
position of  the  government  is,  on  the  whole, 
friendly  to  railroads,  the  country  is  not  able  to 
support  them.  Internal  commerce  is  carried  on 
by  means  of  horses,  mules  and  camels.  Oxen 
are  much  used  for  agricultural  purposes.  The 
Persian  camel  is  stronger  than  that  of  India  or 
Afghanistan.  It  is  said  to  be  able  to  carry  seven 

(342) 


CARRIAGE  IN  PERSIA.  343 

hundred  pounds.  The  Persians  cross  the  Bactrian 
(two  hump)  camel  with  the  Arabian  (one  hump) 
camel.  The  government  is  an  absolute  despot- 
ism under  a  Shah,  who  is  the  vice-regent  of  the 


prophet.  The  population  is  divided  into  those 
who  live  in  towns  and  villages,  and  those  who 
live  in  tents.  The  latter  generally  live  on  the 
hills  in  summer,  each  having  his  particular 


344 


CARRIAGE  IN  PERSIA. 


locality,  and  in  the  lowlands  in  winter.  The 
Persians  are  kind,  hospitable  and  obliging,  and 
cleanly  in  their  habits.  Slavery  is  practiced, 
but  it  is  said  they  treat  their 
slaves  as  highly  prized  ser- 
vants rather  than  mere  crea- 
tures. Persia  is-  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  Caspian  Sea 
and  the  Russian  Empire;  on 
the  east  by  Russia,  Afghanis- 
tan  and  Beloochistan ;  on  the 
south  by  the  Arabian  Sea  and 
Persian  Gulf,  and  on  the  west  by  Asiatic  Turkey. 
It  has  an  estimated  population  of  about  nine 
millions  and  an  area  of  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  thousand  square  miles,  much  of  which  is 
tableland  without  water. 


Crossing  a  stream. 


CARRIAGE  IN  PERSIA. 


345 


Rural  life  in  Persia. 


346 


CARRIAGE  IN  PERSIA. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRALASIA. 


The  widely  separated  islands  constituting  Aus- 
tralasia form  a  part  of  what  is  known  as  Ocean- 
ica.  The  aborigines  were  savage  blacks.  Because 
of  their  dark  skin  the  territory  has  sometimes 
been  called  Melanesia.  It  comprises  the  islands 
between  Malasia  and  Polyne- 
sia— namely,  Australia,  New 
Zealand,  New  Guinea,  the  Fijis, 
New  Britain,  Tasmania,  etc. 
When  discovered  by  white 
men  no  progress  toward  civili- 
zation had  been  made  by  the 
aborigines.  The  desire  to  pos- 
sess property,  the  first  indica- 
tion of  enlightenment — the 
cracking  of  the  shell  of  sav- 
agery— they  lacked.  They 
were  not  familiar  with  agri- 
culture, and  the  dog  was  the 
only  domestic  animal  they 
possessed.  They  had  in  general  no  settled  dwell- 
ings but  lived  in  hovels.  Their  water  craft  were 
rude  rafts  or  dug-outs,  canoes  hollowed  out  of 
logs;  those  intended  for  war  purposes,  however, 
were  frequently  of  enormous  size,  in  some  in- 
stances being  ninety  feet  long  and  carrying  one 

(34?) 


348 


CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRALASIA. 


hundred  and  fifty  men.  Men  and 
women,  especially  the  latter,  bore 
all  the  burdens  of  transportation. 
But  there  was  little  of  the  latter. 
Men  looked  for  their  food  from  day 
to  day  as  do  animals,  giving  little 
or  no  intelligent  thought  for  the 
morrow.  These  primitive  condi- 
tions still  exist  in  the  unexplored 
or  little  frequented  parts  of  the 
territory.  Like  all  savages,  the 
men  are  lazy,  idle  and  quarrelsome. 
They  do  the  fighting.  The  women 
do  the  useful  work  and  bear  all  the 
drudgery  of  life.  Foreigners  have 
introduced  improved  water  craft, 
and,  on  the  larger  islands,  domestic 
animals.  In  Australia  the  camel  is 
found  to  thrive  and  to  be  especially 
useful  in  traversing  the  vast  wastes 
of  the  interior.  *  The  first  account 
we  have  of  this  great  island,  the 
largest  in  the  group,  and,  indeed, 
the  greatest  in  the  world,  is  in 
1598.  It  might  more  properly  be 
called  a  continent.  It  is  two  thou- 
sand, five  hundred  miles  from  east 
to  west  and  one  thousand,  nine 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  breadth, 
containing  some  three  million 
square  miles.  Its  population  is  in 
the  neighborhood  of  three  millions. 


CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRALASIA. 


349 


The  territory  is  situated  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  Indian  Ocean  and  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  South  Pacific.  It  is  supposed  that  the  island 
was  at  a  comparatively  recent  date  the  bed  of  an 
ocean.  In  its  eastern  part  there  is  a  range  of 
mountains  some  one  thousand,  seven  hundred 
miles  long  and  averaging  one  thousand,  five  hun- 
dred feet  in  height. 
Its  center  or  interior 
is  a  vast  incognito,  a 
great  desert  of  waste 
land,  without  water 
or  rainfall.  The  con- 
struction of  rail- 
roads is  actively 
encouraged 
by  the  gov- 
ernment of 
Australia. 
The  island 

is  a  colony  of  Great  Britain,  as  is  also  New  Zea- 
land. The  last  named  consists  of  what  are  called 
the  North  and  South  Islands.  The  islands  of 
New  Zealand  have  an  area  of  about  one  hundred 
and  five  thousand  square  miles  and  a  population 
of  nearly  seven  hundred  thousand.  The  natives 
are  divided  into  tribes  as  are  all  savages  at  a  cer- 
tain period  of  evolution,  their  social  progress 
being  indicated  by  the  nature  of  their  tribal 
relations. 

The  aborigines  of  Australasia  had  no  written 
laws,  but,  in  some  instances,  customs  which  they 


(350) 


CARR I  A  GE  IN  A  US  TRA  LA  SI  A.  351 

adhered  to  in  a  general  way.  In  some  cases 
particular  tribes  had  fixed  locations.  This  may 
be  said  to  be  a  distinction  which  usually  exists 
between  a  tribe  and  a  horde.  Respect  and  obedi- 
ence were  accorded  the  chief  of  the  tribe.  Their 
rule,  however,  was,  in  the  main,  based  on  personal 
prowess.  Some  progress  has  been  made  in  New 
Guinea  in  the  construction  of  railroads.  This 
island  is,  next  to  Australia,  the  largest  in  the 
world.  It  has  a  length  of  one  thousand,  five  hun- 
dred miles  east  and  west,  and  is  thirty  to  four 
hundred  miles  from  north  to  south.  Its  area  is 
estimated  at  from  two  hundred  thousand  to  three 
hundred  thousand  square  miles.  Little,  however, 
is  known  of  its  interior.  The  population  consists 
of  tribes  with  cannibalistic  tendencies.  This  last 
peculiarity  characterized  the  savages  in  the  en- 
tire group  at  one  time,  as  indeed  it  does  all 
savages  at  a  certain  period  of  evolution.  The 
primitive  savages  of  the  Fiji  Islands  are,  in  some 
respects,  the  most  interesting  of  the  group. 
About  eighty  of  these  islands,  out  of  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty,  have  been  found  to  be  inhab- 
ited. Inter-communication  is,  however,  exceed- 
ingly dangerous.  But  the  natives  are  as  much 
at  home  in  the  water  as  on  the  land.  They  are, 
one  and  all,  pronounced  cannibals,  and,  despite 
the  efforts  of  missionaries  and  others,  cling  with 
more  or  less  tenacity  to  their  old  habits  and  appe- 
tites. Following  the  practices  of  the  savages  of 
whom  we  have  account  in  Eastern  Europe  and 
Western  Asia  in  early  days,  widows  are  put  to 


352  CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRALASIA. 

death  on  the  demise  of  their  husbands,  and  serv- 
ants killed  when  their  master  dies.  These  prac- 
tices tend  to  make  the  wives  careful  of  their 
husbands  and  the  servants  regardful  of  their 
masters.  The  Fijis  are  said  to  be  sensitive,  proud, 
cleanly,  hospitable  and  polite.  These  charm- 
ing qualities  are,  however,  only  relative  char- 
acteristics of  the  savage  who  breakfasts  on  his 
guest  and  dines  off  his  enemy. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  CEYLON. 

Black  people  are  the  natives  of  Ceylon.  To 
these  add  other  and  still  blacker  people  from 
the  Indian  Peninsula,  who  have  gone  to  Ceylon 
to  find  work  in  the  tea  fields,  and  you  have  a 


picture  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  population.  The 
governing  class  are  Englishmen,  theirs  the  capi- 
tal. It  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  country 
and  takes  on  many  of  the  picturesque  features  of 
India,  by  whom  it  was  conquered  fourteen  hun- 
dred years  ago.  About  that  time  an  Indian 

23     Vol.  II  (353) 


354 


CARRIAGE  IN  CEYLON. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CEYLO&  355 

prince  crossed  over  from  the  mainland,  and  the 
conquest  of  the  aboriginal  population  of  Ceylon 
followed.  It  was  colonized  by  the  Portugese  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  They  were  afterward 
driven  out  by  the  Dutch.  The  island  is  now  in 
possession  of  the  British.  Here  again  we  come 
across  the  elephant  and  the  humpback  ox  of 
India.  These  two  primitive  carriers  in  them- 
selves make  the  picture  attractive.  The  ele- 


A  local  express. 

phant  is  found  in  his  native  state  in  the  almost 
impassable  jungles  of  the  interior.  The  great 
herds  that  at  one  time  roamed  through  this  dis- 
trict have  been  greatly  diminished  by  hunters. 
The  elephant  is  royal  game,  and  the  public  only 
regrets  that  the  animal's  intelligence  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  enable  it  to  exterminate  those  who  assail 
it  for  sport  merely.  The  pleasure  of  the  sports- 
man in  pursuing  his  quarry  is  not  to  be  compared 
to  the  delight  we  should  feel  in  seeing  the  quarry 
pursue  the  hunter. 


356  CARRIAGE  IN  CEYLON. 

An  interesting  feature  of  Ceylon  is  its  quaint 
methods  of  water  transportation.  The  island 
inhabitants  of  the  southeastern  seas,  including 
those  who  inhabit  the  Malay  Peninsula,  have 
their  own  fashions  in  water  craft.  These  fash- 
ions, while  interesting,  would  not  prove  adequate 
in  the  case  of  people  whose  commercial  interests 
were  great,  or  who  were  travelers.  They  are 
ample,  however,  to^  meet  the  simple  wants  of  the 
South  Sea  Islanders. 


On  the  Colombo  River. 


Ceylon  is  an  island  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  about 
one  hundred  miles  from  the  southern  extremity 
of  India.  It  is  two  hundred  and  seventy-one 
miles  in  length,  and  its  greatest  breadth  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  miles.  Its  area  is 
about  twenty-four  thousand  square  miles,  and 
its  population  between  three  and  four  millions. 
The  active  construction  of  railways  is  encour- 
aged. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CEYLON.  357 


Singhalese  fishermen  off  the  coast.  When  the  outrigger  is  not  heavy 
enough  to  hold  the  boat  down,  the  weight  of  one  or  more  of  the  crew  is  added 
to  it. 


358 


CARRIAGE  IN  CEYLON. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  MADAGASCAR. 

In  no  country  in  the  world,  not  excepting 
Africa,  are  methods  of  carriage  more  primitive 
than  in  this  far  off  country  in  the  southeastern 
seas.  There  are  no  highways — only  rude  paths. 


Upon  these  the  burdens  of  carriage  are  borne  on 
the  shoulders  of  stalwart  natives.  Vehicles  can 
not  be  used  except  in  local  instances.  Rude  pal- 
anquins with  canvas  sSats  attached  to  poles  car- 
ried on  the  shoulders  of  attending  negroes  are 

(359) 


360  CARRIAGE  IN  MADAGASCAR. 

the  highest  type  of  transportation  the  country 
affords.  Madagascar  has  been  known  for  a  thou- 
sand years  or  more,  but  is  still  uncivilized,  still 
undeveloped — much  of  it  still  unexplored.  The 
aboriginal  inhabitants  are  negroes.  The  island 
of  Madagascar  is  situated  in  the  Indian  Ocean, 
some  two  hundred  miles  east  of  the  mainland  of 
Africa.  It  has  an  estimated  area  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  square  miles,  and  a  popula- 
tion of  about  three  and  a  half  millions.  The 
numerous  rivers  on  the  island  afford  only  meager 
facilities  for  internal  navigation.  They  spread 
into  lakes  in  the  low  regions  and  are  slow,  shal- 
low and  feeble  when  they  reach  the  seashore. 
Madagascar  is  noted  for  its  India  rubber  and 
other  valuable  forest  trees.  The  French  claim  a 
protectorate  over  the  island. 


This  form  of  carriage,  the  highest  known,  is  called  a  Filanzana. 


CARRIAGE  IN  MADAGASCAR. 


361 


A  native  carrier. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 

Central  Asia  has  been  the  center  of  romantic 
interest  in  all  ages.  From  this  neighborhood 
the  Huns,  marshalled  by  the  great  Tartar  leader, 
Attila,  made  their  memorable  raid  into  eastern 
Europe  in  A.  D.  451.  It  was  at  one  time  thought 
to  be  the  birth-place  of  the  Aryan  race.  It  is 
generally  believed  to  be  the  original  home  of  the 
horse  and  the  nitfWi  ass'  ^wo  °^ 

factors  in  the  JK ']Uf^mMSUSi^PYO^^G'm    °^ 

camel  and  jH  ^^BBlta=-  Thibetan  ox 
(yak)  are  still  found  here  in 

a    wild    state.  The  region  of 

Central  Asia  or  Turkestan  (as-  it  is  dften  called) 
lies  amidst  gigantic  mountain  ranges  without 
parallel  in  the  world.  A  portion  of  it  occupies 
an  elevation  so  high  and  cold,  and  withal  so  dry, 
as  to  be  uninhabitable.  The  plateau  of  Pamir 
has  a  mean  elevation  of  sixteen  thousand  feet: 
that  of  Thibet  fifteen  thousand  feet.  Turkestan 
is  aptly  termed  the  backbone  of  Asia  and  the 
roof  of  the  world.  Its  eastern  and  western  sides 
are  bordered  by  vast  steppes,  and  these  in  turn 
by  deserts  still  more  vast.  Its  population  is 
widely  scattered  and  made  up  partly  of  nomadic 


CARRIAGE  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


363 


people,  who  take  their  flocks  to  the  mountain 
valleys  in  summer  and  return  with  them  to  the 
villages  in  the  foothills  in  winter.  Methods  of 
carriage  in  this  inhospitable  region  are  simple 
and  primitive.  Here  the  camel  of  the  highlands 
differs  from  his  fellows  of  the  plains  to  the  west 


by  taking  on  a  heavy  coat  of  wool  as  a  protection 
against  the  high  winds  and  extreme  cold.  In  the 
western  part  of  the  country  horses  are  large  and 
highly  bred;  in  the  eastern  section  they  are 
diminutive.  The  mule  is  much  used  in  the  lower 
country.  There  are  no  railroads  in  Central  Asia 
if  we  except  the  Russian  line  that  penetrates  the 


364  CARRIAGE  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 

Caucasus.  The  area  of  Central  Asia  can  not  be 
defined  within  particular  metes  and  bounds  as 
England  or  France  can.  Generally  speaking  it 
is  the  vast  and  little  known  district  lying  south 
of  Siberia,  east  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  north  of 
Persia  and  Afghanistan,  and  embracing  a  portion 
of  the  western  part  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  It 
comprises  in  the  neighborhood  of  two  millions  of 
square  miles,  with  an  estimated  population  of 
about  nine  and  a  half  millions. 


On  the  steppes  of  Central  Asia. 


CARRIAGE  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


365 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS- 
MISCELLANEOUS. 


We  naturally  expect  to  find  water  craft  pre- 
dominating in  island  life.  In  the  main  the  boats 
which  belong  to  the  islands  of  the  north  are 
modern,  if  we  except  the  prim- 
itive dug-out  of  which  several 
illustrations  have  already  been 
given.  In  some  cases  the  meth- 
ods of  land  carriage  are  unique. 
Thus,  in  Madeira,  passengers 
and  freight  are  carried  on 
sledges  drawn  by  oxen,  al- 
though the  islanders  never 
saw  a  snowflake.  Palanquins 
are  also  used  for  carrying  pas- 
sengers. In  Jamaica  every- 
thing, practically,  is  carried 
on  the  heads  of  men  and 
women.  There  are  several 
great  islands  that  deserve  to 
be  classed  as  continents. 
Many  islands  are  embraced  in 
the  adjacent  continent;  this  is 
so  of  Japan.  Many  stand  out 
distinct.  Others  are  grouped. 
The  principal  groups  of  the  Atlantic,  not  to  men- 
tion the  British  Isles,  which  form  part  of  Europe, 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


367 


are  the  islands  of  the  Greater  Antilles,  or  West 
Indies,  embracing,  among  others,  Cuba,  Jamaica, 
Hayti,  and  Porto  Rico;  the  Bahamas,  embracing 
about  seven  hundred  islands,  and,  finally,  Iceland 
and  Newfoundland.  The  groups  of  the  Pacific 
are  the  Kuril  Islands,  form- 
ing a  part  of  the  Japanese 
Empire;  the  Aleutians,  off 
the  extreme  southwestern 
coast  of  Alaska;  Queen  Char- 
lotte's, which  forms  a  portion 
of  British  Columbia;  the  Ha- 
waiian, or  Sandwich  Islands, 
in  the  line  of  commerce  be- 
tween California  and  China; 
eight  groups  in  the  Torrid 
Zone,  as  follows:  The  Caro- 
linas,  comprising  a  great  ar- 
chipelago; theLadrones;  the 
New  Hebrides;  the  Fiji  Isl- 
ands; the  Friendly  Islands; 
the  Society  Islands;  the 
Marquesas  Islands;  the  New 
Zealand  Islands,  and,  finally, 
the  separate  islands  of  New 
Guinea  (Papua)  and  Austra- 
lia, in  the  Southern  Pacific. 
Among  the  noted  groups  of  the  Indian  Ocean  are 
the  East  Indies,  embracing  Borneo,  Sumatra, 
Java,  Celebes,  Luzon,  and  many  other  islands  off 
the  southeast  coast  of  Asia;  the  Laccadive  and 
Maldive  group  of  coral  islands;  the  Andaman 


368  CARRIA  GE  IN  ISLANDS. 

group  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal;  the  Nicobar  Islands 
lying  farther  south.  The  large  single  islands  in 
the  Indian  Ocean  are  Madagascar,  Mauritius, 
Bourbon,  Socotra  and  Ceylon.  In  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  are  the  islands  of  Sicily  and  Sardi- 
nia, now  included  in  the  Italian  kingdom;  Cyprus 
and  Malta,  belonging  to  Great  Britain;  Rhodes 
and  Crete,  owned  by  the  Ottoman  Empire;  Cor- 
sica, belonging  to  France;  the  Ionian  group  off 
the  coast  of  Greece  and  owned  by  that  country, 
and,  finally,  the  Balearic  Isles,  under  Spanish 
rule. 


Primitive  vehicle  from  the  Island  of  Cyprus.  This  lonely  island,  lying 
fifty  miles  off  the  coast  of  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  represents  in  its  history 
greater  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  perhaps,  than  any  other  spot  on  earth.  At  one 
moment  enriched,  the  center  of  a  high  civilization ;  at  the  next,  its  fortunes 
wrecked,  it  is  the  prey  of  one  of  the  savage  nations  which  surround  it.  Thus 
its  fortunes  have  alternated  many  times.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  dominated 
by  the  Mohammedan ;  to-day  it  is  under  the  beneficent  rule  of  Great  Britain. 
To-morrow  it  may  be  a  province  of  Russia.  Who  can  foretell  its  future  or 
would  wish  to  share  its  fortunes?  Here  many  rude  appliances  of  primitive 
ages  have  been  discovered.  In  the  early  history  of  the  Assyrian  Empire,  and 
before  it  contemplated  the  conquests  which  at  once  aggrandized  and  ruined 
it,  we  have  an  account  of  an  Assyrian  king  who,  visiting  the  Mediterranean 
(they  called  it  the  Sea  of  the  Setting  Sun,  because  it  was  to  the  west  and  sup- 
posed to  be  the  end  of  the  world),  made  an  excursion  to  Cyprus.  Afterward 
*he  island  passed  under  the  dominion  of  his  savage  descendants. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


369 


24    Vol.  11 


370 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


371 


372 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


373 


374 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


In  New  Castle,  Jamaica.  The  city  is  situated  on  a  ridge  of  mountains  five 
thousand  feej  above  sea  level.  The  carriers,  it  will  be  noticed,  rest  the  burden 
on  their  heads.  This  is  the  favorite  method  of  carrying  a  burden  in  Jamaica. 


Carriage  in  Madeira. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


375 


In  Havana,  Cuba, 


A  favorite  vehicle  in  Madeira.  The  runners  are  shod  with  iron,  to  which 
an  attendant  applies  a  greased  rag  from  time  to  time.  The  roads  are  paved 
with  small  stones,  and  have  become  so  smooth  with  time  and  use  that  they 
render  coasting  possible  on  the  hillsides.  Carriages  and  similar  vehicles  are 
not  used  on  the  island,  sleds  taking  their  places. 


376 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


Icelandic  saddle  horse  for  ladies. 


Carriage  in  the  Society  Islands. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


377 


378  CARRIAGE  IN  ISLANDS. 


A  Polynesian  craft. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES  AND  CANADA. 

For  four  hundred  years  emigrants  have  pushed 
westward  from  the  Atlantic,  seeking  homes  in 
the  New  World  of  North 
America.  The  picturesque 
wagon  train,  drawn  by  oxen, 
carrying  the  hardy  explorer 
and  his  family,  are  no  longer 
to  be  seen;  or,  at  best,  but 
seldom.  The  land  has  been 
spied  out  to  its  utmost  limit, 
and  when  it  is  necessary  to 
reach  the  interior,  other  and 
cheaper  means  of  travel  than 
the  ox  train  are  present. 
Every  means  of  primitive 
carriage  is  still  more  or  less 
practiced  in  North  America. 
In  the  far  north,  the  reindeer 
and  dog  are  factors;  while  in 
the  mountains  of  the  west 
the  rude  contrivances  of  the 
Indian  are  still  to  be  met 
with.  The  horse,  ox  and 
mule  are  actively  employed  in  connection  with 
both  local  and  through  carriage.  The  ox  is  used 

(379) 


380  CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 

in  the  south  and  far  west  more  than  elsewhere. 
It  answers  the  purpose,  and  is  cheaper  and  more 
easily  maintained  than  the  horse.  Moreover, 
when  no  longer  useful,  it  may  be  fattened  and 
killed.  Where  the  ox  is  not  used  in  the  south, 
the  mule  stands  in  high  favor.  The  camel  prom- 
ises to  be  a  factor  in  some  parts  of  the  United 
States  in  the  near  future.  It  has  been  found 
especially  adapted  to  the  hot  climate  and  deserts 
of  Arizona.  Nothing  could  be  more  primitive 
than  many  of  the  vehicles  used  in  the  interior  of 
North  America,  away  from  the  great  cities.  As 
a  rule,  new  countries  have  little  of  interest  about 
them  except  their  natural  scenery.  But  in  North 
America  the  aborigines  are  objects  of  especial 
interest.  Of  noble  bearing,  virile,  courageous 
and  cruel,  they  will  forever  stand  for  ideal 
savages.  Those  who  have  succeeded  them 'lack 
in  picturesqueness,  and  their  methods  of  carriage 
are  new  and  commonplace.  An  old  medieval 
cart  excites  interest;  but  *a  modern  wagon, 
freshly  painted,  with  the  name  of  the  manufac- 
turer blazoned  on  its  side,  has  nothing  quaint  or 
interesting  to  recommend  it.  While  the  great 
continent  of  North  America  affords  a  wide  range 
of  carriage,  the  forms  now  in  general  use  are  so 
familiar  that  it  would  be  tiresome  to  reproduce 
them  here.  They  are  therefore  omitted,  except 
in  so  far  as  they  are  old  and  unique.  The  accom- 
panying pictures,  in  the  main,  emphasize  the 
life  of  the  Indian  and  the  period  that  attends 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


381 


the  opening  up   of  a  new  country  to  civilizing 
influences. 

Methods  of  carriage  among  the  savage  Indians 
of  America  are  exceedingly  crude.  The  basket 
is  a  favorite  medium  and  many  different  forms 
are  used.  Each  tribe  has  a  basket  peculiar  to 
itself.  In  some  instances  these  are  strapped  on 

the  back,  in  others 
carried  upon  the 
head.  They  are 
made  by  the  wo- 
men of  the  tribe 
out  of  such  ma- 
terials as  are  most 
convenient  for  the 
purpose:  the  most 
common  are  wil- 
low, birch  and 
other  tough  bark, 
grass,  rushes,  etc. 
The  basket  is  a 
favorite  means  of 
carriage  with  sav- 
age people  and  has 
been  in  all  ages, 
but  not  probably 
in  any  instance  to 
the  extent  which  it  has  been  favored  by  the 
Indians  of  North  America.  Methods  of  carriage 
in  Canada,  bordering  the  United  States  on  the 
north,  do  not  differ  materially  from  those  of  the 
United  States. 


382  CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 

North  America  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Arctic  Ocean;  on  the  east  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean; 
on  the  south  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  on  the  west 
and  southwest  by  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Its  area 
covers  nearly  eight  million  square  miles,  and  its 
population  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  eighty- 
eight  millions.  The  area  of  the  United  States 
is  three  million  six  hundred  and  two  thousand 
square  miles,  its  population  over  sixty-three 
millions.  The  area  of  Canada  is  three  and  one- 
half  million  square  miles,  its  population  five 
millions. 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


383 


384 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


385 


25    Vol.  11 


886 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


387 


388 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


A  scene  in  Alabama. 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


389 


A  Florida  farmer. 


390 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


391 


392 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


393 


394 


CARRIAGE  IN  CANADA. 


Water  carrier  of  Winnipeg. 


In  the  Red-river  Country  of  the  North. 


(895) 


396 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


Carriage  in  Arizona. 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


397 


598 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


Ice  yacht  on  the  Hudson. 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


399 


On  the  Allegheny  river,  Pennsylvania. 


'P>e  North  American  Indian  is  at  home  on  the  war  path  or  in  the  ch»s* 
Elsewhere  he  is  Inert  and  lazy. 


400 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


Breaking  a  wild  horse.  Horses  were  introduced  into  North  America  by 
the  Spaniards.  They  multiplied,  and  for  many  years  vast  herds,  wild  and 
untamed,  roamed  the  interior  wastes  of  the  country.  Many  were  caught  and 
subdued  by  the  Indians.  There  is  a  natural  affinity  between  an  Indian  and  a 
horse,  and  no  better  horsemen  exist. 


STATES  AND  CANADA. 


401 


Water  carrier.  Her  jar  is  made  of  twigs  woven  together  and  calked  with 
hot  pitch.  Loops  are  fastened  to  the  sides,  to  which  the  head-band  cf  buck- 
skin is  tied. 


26    Vol.  11 


402 


CARRIAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 


When  Indians  are  on  the  march  or  have  a  great  distance  to  traverse,  two 
sacks  or  receptacles  containing  papooses  (Indian  children)  are  sometimes 
fastened  together  and  thrown  across  the  back  of  a  pony,  one  on  either  side, 
like  paniers.  Usually,  however,  the  squaws  (Indian  women)  are  compelled  to 
trudge  along  carrying  their  children,  following  after  the  Indian  bucks  (men) 
and  youth  on  horseback. 


A  North  American  Indian.  Like  all  savages,  the  red  man  has  no  regard 
whatever  for  woman.  Their  relations  are  those  of  animals.  An  ancient  Greek 
said  that  woman  was  delightful  to  man  on  his  wedding  day  and  on  the  day 
on  which  she  was  buried.  This  is  an  extreme  way  of  looking  at  it,  but  the 
natural  way  for  a  savage.  Affection  and  love  are  the  outgrowth  of  high  cul- 
tivation. 


8TA  TES  AND  CANADA. 


403 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO  AND 
CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


No  country  in  the 
world  affords  the 
lover  of  the  pictur- 
esque a  more  inter- 
esting field  than  Mex- 
ico. Its  ways  are 
ideal  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  traveler. 
Railroads  are  doing 
much  to  obliterate 
this,  but  off  from 
these  thoroughfares 
the  habits  of  the  peo- 
ple are  those  of  old 
Spain  and  Portugal 
mingled  with  Aztec 
peculiarities  and 
memories.  A  con- 
siderable part  of  the 
population  of  Mexico 
is  made  up  of  pure 
Indians,  descendants 
of  the  mysterious 
races  which  held  sway 
there  in  prehistoric 
times.  Methods  of 


(404) 


CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO.  405 

carriage  in  Mexico  differ  radically  from  those 
of  her  northern  neighbors.  They  are  partly 
modeled  after  those  in  vogue  when  the  coun- 
try was  conquered  by  Cortez,  partly  after 
those  of  Spain.  The  traveler  is  continually 
reminded  of  the  less  frequented  parts  of  the 
latter  country.  Mexican  men  and  women  are 
natural  burden  bearers,  the  most  sturdy  and 
dexterous  in  the  world.  Theirs  is  the  acquired 
skill  of  many  centuries,  for  before  Cortez  the 
natives  had  never  seen  an  animal  carry  a  burden. 
They  had  been  in  the  habit  of  availing  themselves 
of  water  car-  «®^*^^?  riage  so  far  as 
possible,  but  on  |4  land  the  whole 

burden  fell  on  l^ffiigpli  men  and  wom- 
en, and  as  the  JfefSSH81|l  population  was 
dense  and  civil-  jf$\  iBHSBJl  ization  far  ad- 
vanced, the  la-  *R|  'TlBlp^^  kor  was  a  great 
one.  The  vehi-  ^j  '/  IF  cles  of  Mexico 

are,  in  the  main,    7^^  similar  to  those 

of  Spain.  In  the        ^Hl  United   States 

wagons  with  ^3  C-^-  f°ur  wheels  are 
the  rule;  in  Mexico  such  ve- 

hicles are  almost  unknown,  carts  being  used. 
The  Mexicans  are  fond  of  horses  and  noted  for 
their  fine  horsemanship.  They  have  all  the  love 
of  the  Spaniard  for  finery  in  connection  with  the 
trappings  of  their  steeds.  Diminutive  burros, 
(asses)  with  big  heads,  stout  legs  and  com- 
pact bodies,  outnumber  many  times  all  other 
kinds  of  Mexican  carriers.  The  trains  of  these 
little  animals  that  are  to  be  met  with  every- 


406  CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO 

where  continually  remind  the  traveler  of  Pales- 
tine and  Egypt.  Indeed  there  is  much  besides 
to  suggest  the  latter  country.  The  donkey  trains 
and  picturesque  Mexicans  with  their  many-col- 
ored serapes  and  solemn  oriental  manners  remind 
one  more  of  the  east  than  of  the  west. 

Primitive  carriage  in  Central  America  is  not  so 
full  as  in  Mexico.  The  methods  are  largely  those 
of  new  countries  fashioned  after  modern  forms. 
The  community  is  not  lacking  in  thrift  and  in- 
genuity, but  it  has  not  the  picturesqueness  of 
Mexico.  Few  countries  have.  Mexico,  formerly 
called  New  Spain,  lies  in  the  southern  part  of 
North  America.  flfe  ^Ee  coun^ry  *s  a 
great  ridge  be-  tween  two  oceans. 

It  has  an  area  of  about  seven   hun- 

dred and  forty-one  ^^EgR  thousand  square 
miles,  and  a  popu-  j^$iX  lation  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  eleven  jlSfw  millions.  Central 
America  is  an  ir-  r^|£JL  .regular  country 
lying  between  m$3fc5K  Mexico  and  South 
America,  bounded  '^ffSj^  on  the  east  by  the 
Carribean  Sea  and  on  the  west  by  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Its  area  is  about  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-three thousand  eight  hundred  square  miles, 
and  its  population  in  the  neighborhood  of  two 
millions  seven  hundred  thousand.  It  is  a  moun- 
tainous region  containing  many  high  plateaus 
and  volcanoes.  The  country  is  subject  to  earth- 
quakes. The  colony  of  Balize  is  governed  by  the 
British.  Central  America  is  republican.  The 
names  of  the  countries  of  which  it  is  constituted 


AND  CENTRAL  AMERICA.  407 

and  their  estimated  area  and  population  are  as 
follows:  Balize,  seven  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty  square  miles,  population  thirty-one 
thousand,  five  hundred;  Costa  Rica,  twenty-one 
thousand,  four  hundred  and  ninety-five  square 
miles,  population  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
thousand,  eight  hundred;  Guatemala,  forty  thou- 
sand, seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven  square 
miles,  population  one  million,  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand ;  Honduras,  forty-seven 
thousand  and  ninety  square  miles,  population 
four  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand;  Nicaragua, 
forty-nine  thousand,  five  hundred  square  miles, 
population  two  hundred  and  eighty-three  thou- 
sand; San  Salvador,  seven  thousand,  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  square  miles,  population  four 
hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand. 

Mexico,  for  so  many  centuries  downtrodden 
and  misgoverned,  owes  its  recuperation,  present 
stability,  growing  trade  and  bright  outlook  to  the 
firmness  and  wise  political  action  of  its  great 
President,  Porfirio  Diaz. 


408 


CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO 


Mexican  aquador  or  water  carrier.  The  native  woman  of  Mexico  works  in  the 
field  as  well  as  in  the  house,  ever  patient,  hardy  and  industrious. 


AND  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


409 


Mexican  butcher  delivering  meat  from  a  basket  of  woven  split  cane.    A  heavy 
pad  under  the  basket  serves  as  a  protection  to  his  back. 


410 


CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO 


Carriage  in  Mexico. 


AND  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


ill 


A  Mexican  carrier. 


412 


CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO 


A  primitive  Mexican  vehicle. 


A  primitive  form  of  carriage  in  Mexico. 


AND  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


413 


414 


CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO 


AND  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


415 


416 


CARRIAGE  IN  MEXICO 


A  Mexican  carrier. 


A  Mexican  burro. 


An  early  stage  in  the  evohition  of  transportation. 


AND  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


417 


Carriage  of  water  in  Mexico. 


In  the  Cordillera  mountains  of  Honduras. 


27    Vol.11 


In  the  highlands  of  Central  America. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH 
AMERICA. 

While  North  America  did  not  contain  a  single 
primitive  beast  of  burden  when  the  continent 
was  discovered  four  hundred  years  ago,  South 
America  possessed  the  llama,  which  the  natives 
used  for  purposes  of  carriage,  and  still  use.  In 
some  respects  it  resembles  the  camel,  but  is 
diminutive  and  a  poor  substitute  for  either  the 
camel,  ox  or  horse.  The  accompanying  illustra* 
tions  of  carriage  in  South  America  are  interesting 
and  varied,  considering  the  newness  of  everything 

One  can  not 
but  be  -im- 
pressed with 
the  vastness  of 
the  country 
and  the  devices  that  have  been  brought  into  play 
for  cheapening  and  expediting  primitive  methodu 
of  carriage.  Railroads  are  everywhere  encour- 
aged. The  two  wheeled  cart,  so  seldom  seen  in 
the  far  north,  is  here  a  favorite  vehicle,  not  only 
in  the  cities  but  on  the  vast  pampas  of  the 
interior.  In  Brazil,  which  has  a  large  negro 
population,  many  of  the  simple  devices  of  equa- 
torial Africa  are  noticed.  The  methods  of  car- 
riage of  the  Peruvians  are,  on  the  whole,  the 
most  attractive  of  any.  They  resemble  those  of 

(418) 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


419 


Mexico  somewhat,  and  are  more  or  less  per- 
meated with  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  civilization 
of  the  Incas.  They  suggest  the  connection, 
impossible  to  define,  between  the  civilization  of 
a  remote  past  and  the  present.  In  this  far-off 


country  we  are  surprised  to  find  vessels  and  rafts 
made  of  inflated  skins,  the  same  in  idea  as  those 
used  by  the  people  of  Central  Asia  three  thousand 
years  before  our  era.  Is  the  coincidence  a  chance 
one;  if  not,  whence  the  avenue  of  connection? 
In  South  America,  as  in  other  countries,  every 


420 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


device  that  can  be  made  serviceable  to  facilitate 
and  cheapen  carriage  is  brought  into  play.  In 
the  vast  unsettled  portions  of  the  country,  as  in 
North  America,  the  bullock  stands  as  the  chief 
of  carriers.  Docile,  he  is  easily  kept,  and  when 
no  longer  useful  will  furnish  his  owner  food. 

This  happy  conjunc- 
£ion  has  made  him  a 
favorite  in  every  age, 
and  will  so  long  as 
man  possesses  a 
stomach  and  has  need 
of  beasts  of  burden; 
South  America  is  a 
great  triangular  pen- 
insula connected  with 
North  America  on  the 
northwest  by "  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama. 
It  is  bounded  on  the 
'north  by  the  Carri- 
bean  Sea,  on  the  east 
by  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  on  the  west  by 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  on  the  south  by  the 
Antarctic  Ocean.  It  is  about  four  thousand 
eight  hundred  miles  in  extent  from  north  to 
south,  and  its  greatest  breadth  is  about  three 
thousand  two  hundred  miles.  Its  estimated 
area  is  six  millions  eight  hundred  thousand 
square  miles,  and  its  population  about  thirty- 
five  millions.  Within  its  boundaries  lies  the 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.  421 

Amazon,  the  largest  river  in  the  world,  four 
thousand  miles  long.  British  Guiana,  Dutch 
Guiana  and  French  Guiana  are  governed  respec- 
tively by  the  British,  Dutch  and  French.  All 
the  rest  of  the  countries  of  South  America  are 
republics.  The  names  of  the  various  countries 
with  their  estimated  area  and  population  are  as 
follows:  Argentine  Republic,  one  million  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  square  miles, 
population,  four  million  fifty  thousand;  Bolivia, 
seven  hundred  and  eighty-four  thousand  five 
hundred  and  fifty-four  square  miles,  population, 
two  millions  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand; 
Brazil,  three  millions  two  hundred  and  nine  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  seventy-eight  square 
miles,  population,  fourteen  millions;  Chile,  two 
hundred  and  ninety-three  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  seventy  square  miles,  population,  two  millions 
eight  hundred  thousand;  Colombia,  five  hundred 
and  thirty-three  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  square  miles,  population,  three  millions 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-eight  thousand;  Ecua- 
dor, one  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  thirty  square  miles,  population,  one 
million  one  hundred  thousand;  Guiana,  British, 
eighty-five  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  square  miles,  population,  two  hundred  and 
eighty-four  thousand  nine  hundred;  Guiana, 
Dutch,  forty  thousand  square  miles,  population, 
sixty-nine  thousand  three  hundred;  Guiana, 
French,  twenty-seven  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty  square  miles,  population,  twenty-five 


422 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


thousand;  Paraguay,  ninety-eight  thousand  square 
miles,  population,  one  million,  four  hundred 
thousand;  Peru,  four  hundred  and  eighty  thou- 
sand square  miles,  population,  two  millions,  seven 
hundred  thousand;  Uruguay,  seventy-one  thou- 
sand, seven  hundred  and  forty  square  miles,  popu- 
lation, five  hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand; 
Venezuela,  six  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand, 
six  hundred  and  ninety-five  square  miles,  popula- 
tion, two  millions,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 


It  is  said  that  the  llama  was  the  only  animal  on  the  American  continent,  at 
the  time  of  its  discovery,  that  could  be  utilized  as  a  carrier.  The  aborigines 
of  South  America  thus  used  it.  It  is  not  only  available  as  a  beast  of  burden, 
but  is  also  valuable  for  its  flesh,  hide  and  wool.  These  animals  were  often 
compared  to  sheep  by  the  early  writers.  They  were  used  in  Peru  before  the 
Spanish  conquest. 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


423 


Brazilian  horse.    Vast  numbers  of  horses,  sprung  from  the  original  European 
stock,  roam  in  a  wild  state  over  the  extensive  plains  of  Southern  Brazil. 


A  traveler  in  Uruguay. 


424  CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


This  illustrates  a  peculiar  arrangement  or  panier,  used  in  transporting 
passengers  and  freight  in  Chile.  The  goods  are  stowed  away  in  the  ample 
hampers  at  the  sides,  while  the  passenger  sits  between  them  on  the  back  of 
the  animal. 


The  "caleza,"  an  old-fashioned  Peruvian  carriage. 


CARRIAGE  fX  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


425 


Cart  used  for  tne  carriage  of  freight  over  the  mountains  and  across  the 
vast  plains  of  South  America.  The  thatched  roof  is  at  once  cheap,  effective 
and  durable. 


A  picturesque  form  of  carriage  in  Peruvian  waters. 


426 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


A  jangada  or  light  raft  made  of  logs  on  which  are  fixed  long  masts  with 
triangular  sails.  In  these  vessels  the  natives  of  northern  Brazil  sail  through 
the  surf,  balancing  the  boat  with  skill,  hanging  on  to  the  ropes  and  leaning 
over  on  the  windward  side. 


428 


CARRIAGE  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


Old  picture  of  carriage  on  the  Amazon  Kiver. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  ITALY. 

• 

Italy  was  at  one  time  synonymous  with  Rome 
and  shared  with  it  the  reputation  Roman  soldiers 
and  citizens  had  acquired  for  aggressiveness  and 
brutality.  This  was  many  centuries  ago.  We 


:now  the  Italians  and  Romans  of  the  present 

;ime  to  be  the  most  amiable  and  lovable  of  man- 

ind,  much  given  to  the  soft  pleasures  of  life  and 

lot  at  all  actuated  by  a  desire  to  tyrannize  over 

(429) 


430 


CARRIAGE  IN  ITALY. 


the  world,  or  influence  it  unduly.  No  country  in 
Europe,  it  is  probable,  save  Spain,  affords  the 
traveler  greater  contrasts  or  more  pleasurable 
sensations  than  Italy.  The  mild  manners  of  its 
people  go  hand  in  hand  with  its  climate.  No 
harsh  contrasts  disturb  the  sensitive  observer, 
and  the  people  have  lived  under  too  many  forms 
of  government  to  allow  mere  matters  of  misgov- 
ernment  to  disturb  their  serenity  or  lighten  the 

laughter  with 
which  they  wel- 
come the  fast  re- 
curring holidays. 
Wide  contrasts 
in  methods  of 
carriage  present 
themselves  in 
Italy  as  else- 
where. Beside 
her  well  man- 
aged railroads 
the  peasant 
trudges  content- 
edly with  his 
burden,  an  un- 
com  plaining 
competitor.  Forms  of  primitive  carriage  are  not 
plentiful.  The  gondola  of  Venice,  the  great  bul- 
lock cart  of  Sicily  and  the  huge  vehicle  of  Rome, 
while  interesting,  are  not  new.  The  curious 
must  look  elsewhere  for  primitive  forms. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ITALY.  435 

Italy  is  a  long  and  narrow  peninsula  lying  in 
the  southern  part  of  Europe,  separated  from  the 
rest  of  the  continent  by  the  Alps.  It  borders  on 
the  Mediterranean,  Adriatic  and  Ionian  Seas,  and 
is  traversed  throughout  its  length  by  the  Appen- 
nines  mountains.  Its  area  is  about  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  thousand  square  miles  and  its  popu- 
lation in  the  neighborhood  of  thirty  millions. 
Sicily  now  forms  a  part  of  the  Italian  Kingdom. 


432 


CARRIAGE  IN  ITALY. 


A  Sicilian  carrier. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ITALY. 


433 


28    Vol.  11 


434 


CARRIAGE  IN  ITALY. 


CARRIAGE  IN  ITALY. 


435 


These  carts,  so  noticeable  In  the  cities  of  Italy,  are  like  the  huge  vehicles 
used  for  hauling  merchandise  across  the  vast  pampas  of  South  America.  A 
primitive  cart  somewhat  similar  to  this,  and  drawn  by  three  animals,  is  also 
used  in  central  Asia,  and  is  called  an  "araba." 


A,  Venetian  Gondola. 


(436) 


PRIMITIVE   CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRIA- 
HUNGARY. 

In  countries  where  a  high  civilization  exists, 
as  in  Austria-Hungary,  primitive  forms  of  car- 
riage due  to  the  earlier  conceptions  and  needs  of 
men  are  only  to  be  met  with  in  unfrequented 
spots  where  the  sunlight  of  prosperity  does  not 


(437) 


438 


CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 


shine,  or  shines  but  faint- 
ly. Only  research  will 
bring  to  light  these  long- 
forgotten  methods.  They 
are  always  interesting 
when  found,  because  of 
their  quaintness  and  the 
angularity  of  thought  and 

1  wM^B^BB  Ei^>      condition  they  suggest. 
I  llSSS^  Frequently,  however,  they 

are  rather  odd  than  prim- 
itive.    Carriage   is  very 
much  the   same   in  Aus- 
tria-Hungary and  in  Ger- 
many.     No   form   is  too 
rude  or  too  simple,  if  it  an- 
swers the  purpose  of  sav- 
ing.   Even  the  pig  is,  on 
occasion,  made  to  do  duty. 
The  dog  is  also  a  factor, 
and  with   his   master  or 
mistress  helps  to  draw  the 
products  of  the  country  to 
market.  The  ox,  mule  and 
horse,  the  great  primitive 
agents  of  civiliza- 
tion in  all  ages,  do 
duty  here,  as  else- 
where, under  like 
circumstances. 
Many  of  the  forms 
of  carriage  por- 
trayed, while  primitive,  are  also  stable. 


CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 


439 


The  Austro-Hungarian  empire  is  in  Central 
Europe,  and  has  an  area  of  nearly  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  square  miles.  Its  population 
is  about  forty-two  millions.  It  abounds  in  pic- 
turesque scenery  and  contains  numerous  large 
rivers,  the  most  important  of  which  is  the  Dan- 
ube. On  account  of  its  inland  position  and 
limited  sea  coast,  the  empire  is  not  favorably 
situated  for  commerce.  This  obstacle  is  being 
rapidly  overcome,  however,  by  the  general  intro- 
duction of  railways. 


'440  CARRIAGE  IN  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


A  heavy  load  and  a  light  team. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  THE  BRITISH 
ISLES. 

The  same  evolution  in  carriage  has  occurred  in 
the  British  Isles  as  elsewhere,  but  evidences  of 
the  fact  are  not  so  plentiful.  Old  methods  have 
given  place  to  those  that  are  new.  A  country  so 
rich,  progressive  and  enterprising  turns  instinct- 
ively to  appliances  of  the  highest  utility.  While 


it  may  treasure  things  that  are  old  because  of 
associations  or  esthetic  tastes,  it  has  in  matters 
connected  with  the  humdrum  affairs  of  life  no 
sentiment.  Utility  governs  in  everything.  The 
thrift  and  practical  good  sense  of  the  people  of 
the  British  Isles,  in  the  long  ages  of  comparative 

(441) 


442  CARRIAGE  IN  BRITISH  ISLES. 

peace  that  have  blesssed  them,  have  had  full 
headway.  In  matters  of  carriage  the  compara- 
tive level  of  the  country  renders  the  general  use 
of  vehicles  practicable  so  that  such  a  thing  as  a 
pack-horse  is  hardly  known  at  the  present  day, 
though  they  were  common  enough  in  the  middle 
ages.  Because  of  this  we  must  not  look  to  the 
British  Isles  for  anything  quaint  in  the  way  of 
transportation.  One  little  city  in  Mexico  will 
furnish  the  curious  street  observer  with  more 
picturesque  specimens  of  carriage  than  London. 
The  vehicles  of  Great  Britain  and  the  draft  horses 
partake  of  ^  the  sturdi- 

ness  of  the  jfflSSilOT^l    British 

lar  in  Eng-  land,  enjoys 

no  such  popularity  elsewhere;  other  people  want 
something  more  sprightly,  something  that  can 
get  along  faster  and  that  does  not  consume  so 
much.  But  this  animal  just  suits  an  English- 
man. In  everything  pertaining  to  transporta- 
tion the  British  are  ahead  of  their  neighbors  on 
the  continent.  Their  roads  are  better  and  there 
are  more  of  them.  Their  vehicles  are  also  bet- 
ter, as  are  their  horses,  railways  and  facilities 
generally.  They  were  better  two  hundred  years 
ago.  The  prosperity  of  the  British  Isles  lies 
along  common-sense  lines  and  is  based  on  a 
regard  for  material  things,  the  only  real  founda- 
tion for  prosperity.  The  United  Kingdom  of 


CARRIAGE  IN  BRITISH  ISLES. 


443 


Great  Britain  and  Ireland  forms  an  archipelago 
of  islands  and  rocks  separated  from  the  western 
shores  of  Central  Europe  by  the  North  Sea,  the 
Strait  of  Dover  and  the  English  Channel.  The 
area  of  the  United  Kingdom  is  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty -one  thousand  square  miles, 
and  the  population  in  the  neighborhood  of  forty 
millions. 


A  Yarmouth  cart. 


The  British  Empire  is  the  greatest  in  the  world 
and  the  most  splendid  ever  known  to  man.  It 
extends  into  every  zone  and  climate,  and  includes 
one-sixth  of  the  land  of  the  globe.  We  have  no 
knowledge  of  any  people,  past  or  present,  the 
equals  of  the  English  in  the  art  of  governing;  in 
knowledge  of  good  government,  in  enforcement 
of  necessary  checks  and  safeguards,  or  possessing 
their  power  of  self-restraint,  without  which  good 
government  is  impossible.  The  Victorian  Era  is 


444  CARRIAGE  IN  BRITISH  ISLES. 

the  greatest,  thus  far,  in  the  history  of  man. 
Great  Britain  has  shared  in  an  especial  degree  in 
the  prosperity  that  has  attended  it.  How  far  the 
benefits  mankind  have  received  have  been  due  to 
the  wisdom  and  virtues  of  Queen  Victoria,  we  can 
not  tell,  but  that  they  have  been  great,  no  one  will 
question,  any  more  than  they  will  the  fact  that 
her  gracious  personality  will  favorably  influence 
the  destinies  of  the  world  for  ages  to  come. 


Going  to  market  in  Connemara,  Ireland.  The  temperament  of  the  Irish 
people  is  generous,  highly  imaginative  and  poetical.  The  most  glaring  con- 
trasts exist  between  the  Irishman  and  his  English  brother.  This  dissimilarity 
has  existed  from  the  earliest  times.  Climate  and  food  have  had  much  to  do 
with  it,  for  when  they  come  to  the  United  States  the  difference  disappears  and 
one  cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  other.  They  both  become  Americans 
—and  the  best  of  Americans. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BRITISH  ISLES. 


445 


In  the  Island  of  Jersey. 


The  form  of  rack  for  baggage  on  the 
rear  of  this  vehicle  was  introduced  in 
1616.  In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century  coaches  came  into  general  use 
among  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  London, 
much  to  the  disgust,  it  is  said,  of  the 
watermen. 


A  state  carriage  in  Queen  Anne's  time. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BRITISH  ISLES. 


An  ice  boat  on  Loch  Cobbinshaw. 


CARRIAGE  IN  BRITISH  ISLES. 


447 


Man-of-war,  sixteenth  century. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND 
SIBERIA. 


In  all  highly  civilized  countries  under  stable 
and  well  administered  governments  like  that  of 
Russia,  primitive  forms  of  carriage  are  not  gen- 
erally found  except  in 
the  nooks  and  corners 
of  the  country,  so  to 
speak.  Russia,  however, 
covers  so  vast  a  terri- 
tory, much  of  which  has 
only  recently  been  sub 
jected  to  civilizing  in- 
fluences, that  her  meth- 
ods of  carriage  embrace 
an  unusual  variety  of 
forms'.  Every  country, 
howeveu,  has  some  pre- 
dominating idea.  This 
is  so  of  Russia.  It  is 
the  sledge.  The  long 
>r~  winters  and  superabun- 
dance of  snow  make 
this  a  means  of  carriage  par  excellence.  The 
great  rivers  of  Russia  have,  however,  always  been 
favorite  avenues  of  communication  and  trade. 
While  railroads  are  actively  encouraged,  the 

(448) 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA. 


449 


extent  of  the  country  and  its  comparative  new- 
ness and  scant  population  prevent  their  general 
introduction.  This  necessitates  other  forms  of 
carriage,  and,  in  the  main,  primitive.  The  gov- 
ernment encourages,  and,  in  many  instances, 
maintains,  post  horses  and  routes.  It  is  said 
there  are  over  one  hundred  thousand  miles  of 
post  roads  in 
Kussia,  and  five 
thousand  sta- 
tions connected 
therewith,  main- 
tained by  the 
government.  In 
Siberia  and  the 
East  the  raising 
of  horses,  cattle 
and  sheep  is  the 
principal  indus- 
try. Forms  of 
transportation 
conform,  gener- 
ally, thereto.  Be- 
cause of  the  ex- 
treme  cold  in 
Northern  Sibe- 
ria, dogs  and  reindeer  are  much  used.  Horses 
and  cattle  can  not  withstand  the  severe  climate. 
In  the  Caucasus  the  camel  is  the  favorite.  In 
Russia  proper  the  people  are  agriculturists,  and 
as  the  industry  is  oftentimes  barely  self-sustain- 
ing, forms  of  carriage  are  necessarily  the  most 

29    Vol.  11 


450  CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA. 

economical  that  can  be  devised.  Russia,  the 
largest  state  in  the  world,  comprises  the  whole 
of  the  northern  part  of  Europe  and  Asia.  It  has 
an  area  .of  nearly  eight  and  a  half  million  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  about  one  hundred 
millions.  European  Russia  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Norway  and  the  Arctic  Ocean,  on  the 
east  by  Siberia  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  on  the  south 
by  Persia,  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  on  the  west  by  Austria,  Prussia,  the 
Baltic  Sea  and  Sweden.  Its  surface  is  a  vast 
plain,  enclosed  on  the  east,  south  and  a  portion 
of  the  west  by  mountain  chains.  Siberia  is 
included  in  Asiatic  Rusia  and  extends  from  the 
Ural  Mountains  on  the  west  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
on  the  east.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Arctic  Ocean  and  on  the  south  by  the  Chinese 
Empire  and  Turkestan.  In  the  western  portion 
of  Siberia  are  extensive  steppes  inhabited  by  the 
Cossack  tribes,  while  in  the  north  is  a  vast  desert 
region  peopled  by  tribes  in  thje  lowest  state  of 
barbarism. 


Peasant  women  carrying  rocks. 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA.  4o] 


In  old  Russia. 


452  CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA.  453 


In  Moscow. 


454 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA. 


A  common  form  of  carriage  in  winter. 


A  farmer's  outfit  in  eastern  Russia. 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA.  455 


A  passenger  carrier  of  the  Caucasus. 


By  the  use  of  the  high  circular  yoke  (duga),  so  universal  in  Russia,  the  shafts 
to  which  it  is  attached  become  fixed,  making  the  whole  a  rigid  frame. 


456 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA. 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA. 


457 


458 


CARRIAGE  IN  RUSSIA  AND  SIBERIA. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  GERMANY. 


Primitive  carriage  rapidly  gives  place  to  forms 
less  interesting  in  countries  so  much  the  center 
of  interest  and  animation  as  Germany  has  been 
for  many  years  past  and  promises  to  be  for  many 
years  to  come.  In  the  by-ways  of  the  empire, 
however,  the  Genesis  of  transportation  may  still 
be  studied.  Here  we  find  the  cow  and  horse 
yoked  compla- 
cently together, 
or  in  their  place, 
perhaps,  the  stal- 
wart,  honest- 
hearted  peasant 
woman  and  the  not 
less  stout  and,  pa- 
tient ox  or  donkey. 
Dogs  are  utilized 
where  the  roads  permit.  They  draw  the  carts, 
and  when  their  strength  fails  man  supplements 
it  with  his  own.  No  one  is  idle.  In  the  north 
in  winter  ice-craft,  in  a  measure,  take  the  place 
of  the  boats  used  in  summer.  On  the  Rhine  and 
other  waters  many  heavy,  slow-going  vessels, 
modeled  on  old  lines,  ply  back  and  forth.  Among 
the  hard-working  and  saving  people  nothing  is 
frittered  away,  and  the  forms  of  carnage  that 

(459) 


460 


CARRIAGE  IN  GERMANY. 


CARRIAGE  IN  GERMANY. 


461 


their  gains  render  possible,  or  ingenuity  or 
economical  habits  suggest,  are  employed.  Mere 
sentiment  is  not  allowed  to  interfere.  The  neces- 
sity of  the  situation  is  too  great;  the  struggle 
for  life  too  severe. 
Germany  is  bound- 
ed on  the  north 
by  the  North  Sea, 
Denmark  and  the 
Baltic  Sea;  on  the 
east  by  Russia  and 
Austria;  on  the 
west  by  France, 
Belgium  and  Hol- 
land; and  on  the 
south  by  Austria  and  Switzerland.  It  has  an 
area  of  about  two  hundred  eight  and  a  half 
thousand  square  miles  and  a  population  in  the 
neighborhood  of  fifty  millions.  The  central  part 
of  Germany  is  a -region  of  plateaus;  in  the  south 
the  country  is  mountainous;  in  the  north  low. 


462 


CARRIAGE  IN  GERMANY. 


German  karen,  used  in  the  early  part  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 


Carriage  in  Saxony.A.  D.  1584. 


A  Frankfort-on-the-Main  coach,  A.  D.  1667. 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  FRANCE. 


If  a  man  were  to  drop  from  the  clouds  upon 
French  soil  the  first  cart  he  saw  would  lead  him 
to  exclaim,  "  I  am  in  Europe — probably  in  France ! " 
Nations  have  a  distinct  personality,  not  clearly 
definable  always,  but  nevertheless  real,  just  as 
men  have.  This  is  true  of  France.  Her  meth- 
ods are  original. 
Those  connected 
with  carriage  are 
especially  so.  They 
are  in  everything 
effective.  Plain  and 
simple,  there  is  an 
air  of  elegance 
about  them;  a 
deference  to  men's 
taste  peculiarly 
French.  This  is 
notconfined  to  Par- 
is alone.  It  is  true 
of  all  France.  The  *^BHJ0Bi 
peasant  farmer  and 

his  wife  decorate  their  steed,  so  far  as  their 
means  will  permit,  as  conscientiously  as  they 
do  their  own  persons.  The  good  taste  of  the 
French  people  makes  everything  they  attempt  of 

(463)' 


464 


CARRIAGE  IN  FRANCE. 


CARRIAGE  IN  FRANCE.  465 

a  decorative  nature  effective.  Devices  of  primi- 
tive carriage  are  not  plentiful  in  France.  Indeed, 
even  the  evidences  of  initiatory  processes  were 
long  ago  swallowed  up  in  the  changes  and  wars 
that  have  occurred.  Make-shifts  are  not  lacking, 
but  they  are  not  primitive. 

French  men  and  women  are  great  burden 
bearers.  All  saving  men  and  women  are.  It  is 
probable  the  French  peasantry  are  the  most  eco- 
nomical in  the  world,  and  necessarily  so.  No 
saving  is  too  small.  On  such  accumulations  they 
build  up  great  fortunes,  and  the  nation  great 
wealth.  From  a  picturesque  point  of  view  we 
could  wish  there  were  more  reminders  of  ancient 
Gaul  among  the  methods  of  carriage  in  use  to- 
day. While  they  might  not  be  useful  they 
would  be  interesting.  But  these  evidences  of 
the  past  have  been  swept  away;  have  given 
place  to  more  effective  devices  of  the  present 
time.  The  French  are  impatient  of  obsolete 
things;  everything  must  conform  to  the  pro- 
gressive ideas  of  a  prosperous,  wealthy,  saving 
and  alert  people.  France  is  situated  in  south- 
western Europe.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  English  Channel,  the  Straits  of  Dover,  and 
Belgium;  on  the  east  by  Italy,  Switzerland  and 
the  German  Empire;  on  the  south  by  Spain  and 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  on  the  west  by  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  It  covers  an  area  of  two  hun- 
dred and  seven  thousand,  one  hundred  and  seven 
square  miles,  and  has  a  population  of  about 
thirty-eight  millions  of  people. 

SO    Vol.  11 


466 


CARRIAGE  IN  FRANCE. 


CARRIAGE  IN  FRANCE. 


467 


i 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND 
PORTUGAL. 

It  has  been  said  that  no  one  ever  hurries  in 
Spain.  This  is,  of  course,  not  true.  But  that 
people  are  less  impregnated  with  the  frenzy  of 
haste  than  in  the  New  World  is  so,  without 
doubt.  Everything,  including  railroad  trains, 
goes  forward  in  a  dignified  way.  The  Spanish 
people  are  exceedingly  picturesque  and  their 


(468) 


CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL.  469 

dress  noticeably  so.  The  peasantry,  while  re- 
stricted in  their  wardrobe,  nevertheless  in  its 
arrangement  and  coloring,  obtain  the  best  effects. 
Not  satisfied  with  carefully  decorating  himself, 
the  Spaniard  displays  even  greater  zeal  in  deco- 
rating his  steed.  His  saddle  is  resplendent  with 
gorgeous  trappings;  his  bridle  a  mass  of  orna- 
mentation. The  despised  mule  of  other  countries 
is  here  a  royal  animal, 
covered  with  tinsel  and 
rich  cloths.  But  there 
is  no  greater  zeal  dis- 
played in  getting  work 
out  of  him  than  there 
is  in  getting  work  out 
of  railroad  trains. 
Everything  is  done  with 
due  deliberation.  What 
matters  it — looking 
back  through  the  dim 
vistas  of  time  to  the 
Iberian  kingdom  and 
the  conquests  of  Has- 
drubal  and  Hannibal,  what  has  Spain  ever  gained 
by  haste?  Therefore,  no  Spaniard  will  hurry. 
He  wraps  his  cloak  about  him  and  meditatively 
pursues  his  way. 

Carriage  is  much  more  interesting  in  Spain 
than  in  England  or  France.  On  every  street  and 
highway  we  observe  highly  wrought  pictures; 
the  blending  of  attractively  dressed  men  ;m<l 
women  in  active  and  animated  life.  Man  and 


470 


CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 


wife  are  one  here  in  their  efforts  to  keep  the  wolf 
from  the  door.  Indeed,  there  is  a  snap  and  vigor 
about  the  Spanish  women  that  is  oftentimes 
lacking  in  the  men. 

The  Portuguese  are  much  like  the  Spaniards 
in  their  methods  of  transportation.  There  is  the 
same  love  for  the  donkey,  though  less  disposi- 
tion to  decorate  him. 
The  same  rude  carts, 
the  same  slow  gait. 
But  going  further  back 
than  Spain,  the  palan- 
quin of  other  days  is 
still  a  favorite  in 
Portugal.  , 

Spain  and  Portugal 
are  situated  in  the 
southwestern  part-  of 
Europe  and  together 
constitute  what  is 
known  as  t*he  Spanish 
Peninsula.  This  penin- 
sula is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  Pyrenees 
Mountains  and  the  Bay 
of  Biscay,  on  the  east  and  south  by  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  and  on  the  west  by  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  The  area  of  Spain  is  about  one  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  thousand  square  miles,  and  its 
population  nearly  seventeen  millions.  Portugal 
occupies  the  western  part  of  the  peninsula.  It 
is  a  parallelogram  in  shape,  three  hundred  and 


CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 


471 


forty-five  miles  long  and  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles  wide,  having  an  area  of  thirty-four  thou- 
sand five  hundred  square  miles.  Its  population 
is  said  to  be  about  four  millions. 


Carriage  in  Estella. 


472  CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 


On  the  road  in  Andalusia. 


Carriage  in  the  mountainous  districts  of  Portugal. 


CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 


473 


474  CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 


The  state  carriages  of  the  seventeenth  century  represent,  it  may  be  said, 
the  introduction  of  the  many  different  forms  of  carriages  which  exist  at  the 
present  time,  and  which  make  the  streets  and  boulevards  of  our  cities  marvels 
of  animated  life  and  social  splendor. 


A  Spanish  war  vessel,  1588. 


CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL.  475 


The  "Santa  Maria,"  the  boat  in  which  Columbus  sailed  to  America  in  1492. 


476  CARRIAGE  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 


An  old  Spanish  Galleon 


PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE- 
MISCELLANEOUS. 

Primitive  carriage  is  common  in  Europe  only 
in  the  sense  that  men  and  women  still  bear  bur- 
dens. Many  methods  of  carriage  are  quaint  and 
picturesque,  and  wide  contrasts  exist.  In  the 
extreme  north  the  reindeer  and  dog  are  the  great 
factors.  The  use  of  snow-shoes  is  there  necessary 
to  those  who  seek  to  get  across  the  country  on 
foot.  Many  things  have  undergone  little  change 
for  thousands  of  years  in  Switzerland.  On  the 
steep  hillsides  men  draw  rude  plows  as  they  have 
always  done.  The  combination  vehicle  —  half 
sled  and  half  wagon — is  still  to  be  met  with.  In 
Bulgaria  and  thereabouts  the  vehicles  are  pic- 
turesque, primitive  and  poor  —  dilapidated,  in 
fact;  so  old  and  forlorn  as  to  be  attractive. 

An  interesting  feature  of  carriage  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  to  Americans  at  least,  is  the 
general  use  of  dogs  as  draft  animals.  This  would 
not  be  possible  in  either  of  the  Americas,  where 
highways  are  notoriously  bad,  but  in  Europe  the 
dog  renders  effective  service.  The  accompanying 
illustrations  of  primitive  carriage  in  Europe,  in 
countries  that  have  not  been  given  separate 
headings,  are  more  attractive  than  would  be 
supposed.  Utility  seems  to  be  sought  by  the  in- 
habitants, and  outlay  for  ornamentation  avoided. 

(477) 


478 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


Economy  is  the  governing  principle.  The  gor- 
geous trappings  of  Spain,  the  smart  trimmings  of 
France,  and  the  heavy  appliances  of  England  are 
noticeably  absent. 


The  Laplander.  The  country  is  sparsely  peopled.  There  are  no  towns, 
and  the  villages  are  shifted  about  according  to  the  exigencies  of  fodder  or 
fuel.  The  reindeer  of  Lapland  corresponds  to  the  horse  in  England.  When, 
however,  it  is  no  longer  serviceable  or  convenience  prompts,  it  may  be  eaten. 
It  is  more  hardy  and  requires  less  food  than  the  horse.  It  is  somewhat  like  the 
camel  in  its  ability  to  get  along  without  man's  aid. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


479 


Snow  shoes,  or  skees,  similar  to  the  above  have  been  found  the  most  avail- 
able implements  that  can  be  used  for  traversing  on  foot  the  vast  snow  fields  of 
the  north. 


480 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


On  a  down  grade  in  Lapland. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


481 


31    Vol.  11 


482 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


A  passenger  coach  in  Holland. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


483 


484 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


A  scene  in  Servia. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


485 


A  Servian  wagon.  It  is  constructed  wholly  of  wood  except  a  rude  metal 
spring.  The  octagon  and  oblong  wheels  to  be  met  with  in  western  China  vie 
with  the  above  in  oddity. 


On  the  road  near  Rustchuk,  Bulgaria. 


486 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


487 


488 


CARRIAGE  IN  EUROPE. 


On  the  Maas  River,  Holland. 


Going  to  market  in  Holland. 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND  MYTHOLOGICAL 
FORMS  OF  PRIMITIVE  CARRIAGE. 

The  ancients  (the  first  people  of  whom  we  have 
any  account)  had  made  considerable  progress  in 
the  art  of  carriage-building.  The  Assyrians  were 
the  most  expert  of  their  time.  They  possessed 
constructive  ability  and  considerable  taste  in  dec- 
orating. They  dominated  for  several  centuries 


the  region  about  the  Tigris.  No  more  bloodthirsty 
or  avaricious  people  ever  lived.  Their  cruelty  was 
as  great  as  that  of  the  wild  Indian.  They  were 
overthrown  about  B.  C.  625.  The  Assyrian  char- 
iots were  modeled  after  those  of  the  Chaldeans. 

(489) 


490 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND 


The  first  of  the  latter  of  which  we  have  mention 
were  those  of  a  king  of  Agade  about  B.  C.  3800. 
The  Chaldeans  were  in  some  respects  the  most 
interesting  people  of  extreme  antiquity.  From 
them  came,  it  is  thought,  the  enlightenment  of 
the  West.  They  were  peculiarly  mild  and  ami- 
able, fond  of  trade,  withal,  and  much  given  to 
religious  speculation  and  star-gazing.  Like  all 
people  who  have  been  great  conquerors,  the 
Assyrians  were  fond  of  horses.  The  Persians 


had  a  similar  liking.  So  had  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  The  chariots  of  the  Egyptians  were 
copied  after  those  of  the  East.  Among  ancient 
illustrations  of  carriage,  we  have  one  of  an  Ela- 
mite  cart  B.  C.  700.  The  chariot  was  a  readapta- 
tion  of  the  cart.  Four-wheeled  vehicles  came 
later.  The  so-called  Persian  carriage  was  merely 
a  stout  covered  wagon  without  springs.  It  was, 
however,  esteemed  a  kingly  luxury.  It  is  unfor- 
tunate that  the  drawings  we  have  of  the  chariots 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE. 


491 


of  ancient  Assyria  and  Egypt  affords  us,  iii  many 
instances,  only  a  rough  outline.  Details  would 
be  exceedingly  interesting.  The  pictures  were 
not  drawn,  however,  to  illustrate  carriage.  That 
was  a  minor  incident. 

The  ass  is  associated  with  the  most  ancient 
illustrations  we  have  of  carriage.     It  is  probable 


it  was  tamed  before  the  horse.  So  far  as  we 
know,  they  both  had  the  same  Asiatic  origin. 
Coming  down  to  medieval  times,  we  find  the 
chariot  and  rude  wagon  have  become  a  heavy 
coach.  But  little  progress  had  been  made,  how- 
ever. The  coach  too  often  lacked  the  den  na- 
tions and  artistic  lines  of  the  ancient  chariot. 


492 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND 


Mankind  rested  content  for  ages,  making  little 
progress.  The  last  sixty  years  have  wrought 
greater  changes  than  the  preceding  five  thou- 
sand. 

The  war  chariots  of  ancient  times  were  also 
used  for  carrying  passengers  and  merchandise. 
Later  on  they  were  used  in  the  great  races  of 
Greece  and  Rome.  Of  all  the  sports  of  ancient 
times  chariot  racing  was  the  most  splendid  and 
the  most  popular. 

The  people  of  medieval  times  were  scarcely 
more  enlightened  than  the  ancients.  To  be  sure, 
they  no  longer  exposed  the  hopelessly  sick  by 
the  wayside,  hoping  that  some  passer-by  might 
suggest  a  remedy.  Nor  did  the}  light  fires  to 

drive  away 
pestilential 
miasmas,  as 
in  the  days 
of  Pericles. 
They  were, 
however, 
as  absurd 
in  other 
things,  but 
nothing 

that  we  know  of  the  ancients  exceeds  in  gro- 
tesqueness  or  horror  the  burning  of  witches  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  or  the  persecution  of 
men  for  religious  beliefs  in  our  day.  The  people 
of  the  medieval  age  were  scarcely  less  savage 
than  the  Thracians  of  ancient  times,  nor  were 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE.          493 

their  rulers  hardly  less  oppressive  than  the  Assy- 
rian kings. 

Until  the  nineteenth  century  progress  in  car- 
riage building  was  retarded  by  poor  roads,  the 
narrow  streets  of  cities,  the  poverty  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  general  insecurity  that  existed  and  the 
lack  of  an  exalted  idea.  Extended  travel  was 
impossible  in  the  classical  and  medieval  ages. 
Traffic  on  land  was  light  and  confined  to  neigh- 
borhoods. On  the  water  it  wras  more  extended. 


The  pirates  that  infested  the  sea  might  be 
evaded  or  fought  off.  But  land  pirates  (the  rob- 
ber barons  of  the  middle  ages  among  them)  were 
not  to  be  evaded.  They  robbed  all  alike.  And 
as  they  left  little  to  the  wayfarer,  extended  inter- 
course was  impossible. 

The  Phoenicians  were,  so  far  as  we  know,  the 
first  to  make  extended  journeyings  for  the  pur- 
pose of  trade.  The  Chaldeans  also  carried  on  a 
more  or  less  extended  trade  with  surrounding 
countries.  But  aside  from  these  instances  there 


494 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND 


was  but  little  trading  except  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  Red  seas.  The  vessels  of  the  Assy- 
rians and  neighboring  people  were  exceedingly- 
crude.  It  is  not  until  we  reach  the  Mediterra- 
nean that  we  come  in  contact  with  a  maritime 
people — a  people  who  displayed  the  same  taste 
and  ingenuity  in  fashioning  water  craft  that  the 
carriage  maker  of  to-day  displays  in  constructing 
his  vehicles.  The  people  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates  were  satisfied  to  float  on  inflated 
skins,  their  bodies  immersed  in  water;  or,  if  lux- 
urious and  powerful,  were  carried  in  rude  boats 
or  on  rafts.  The  people  of  the  Mediterranean, 
on  the  other  hand,  grasped  the  art  of  shipbuild- 
ing as  we  understand  it. 

From  discoveries  in  the  tombs  of  Egypt  we 
know  row  boats  to  have  been  used  there  as  far 
back  as  B.  C.  2500.  We  have  also  representa- 
tions of  vessels  used  on  the  Mediterranean  B.  C. 
1200.  These  latter  had  from  twelve  to  twenty- 
two  oars  apiece.  In  some  instances  the  vessel 
had  as  high  as  forty.  The  Phoenicians  had  ships 
with  two  banks  of  oars  as  early  as  B.  C.  700. 
Herodotus  speaks  of  Egyptian  ships  with  three 
banks  of  oars  as  early  as  B.  C.  610.  Alexander 
the  Great  constructed  vessels  with  ten  banks  of 
oars,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  had  just 
finished  a  fleet  of  ships  with  seven  banks  of 
oars  each  designed  for  use  along  the  Persian 
Gulf.  The  Macedonians  are  said  to  have  con- 
structed ships  with  sixteen  banks  of  oars  about 
B.  C.  170. 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE. 


495 


Much  confusion  exists  among  naval  archaeolo- 
gists and  others  who  have  given  the  subject 
thought  as  to  just  how  the  oarsmen  were  ar- 
ranged in  these  ancient  vessels.  Some  writers, 
indeed,  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  no  one  can 
now  tell  what  a  bank  of  oars  consisted  of.  It  is 


probable  —  indeed,  we  know  —  that  the  rowers 
were  not  arranged  the  same  in  different  vessels. 
There  was,  it  is  probable,  the  same  difference  in 
regard  to  this  that  there  is  to-day  in  the  manner 
in  which  people  in  different  sections  of  the  world 
hang  the  sails  on  their  vessels  or  harness  their 


496 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AXD 


draft  animals.  In  some  cases 
the  oarsmen  sat  one  above 
another;  in  other  instances  in 
oblique  tiers  "with  such  a  per- 
pendicular distance  between 
them  as  to  allow  the  inner 
end  of  the  second  oar,  being 
worked,  to  pass  clear  of  the 
head  of  the  man  who  was 
working  the  first;  and  so  on 
successively."  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  rowers  in  oblique 
tiers  would  render  practicable 
the  sixteen  banks  of  oars  that 
the  Macedonians  are  said  to 
have  constructed,  or,  indeed, 
even  a  greater  number  if  need 
be.  The  oarsmen  on  the  an- 
cient vessels  were  divided 
equally,  half  on  each  side. 
They  slept  and  lived  on  the 
benches  on  which  they  sat  to 
row.  It  is  said  that  while 
there  were  oftentimes  many 
tiers  of  rowers  in  a 
vessel  and  some  oars 
were  longer  than  oth- 
ers, there  was  only 
one  strokesman  to 
each  vessel. 

Polybius  relates 
that  the  Romans  in 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE.          497 

the  first  instance  accustomed  their  rowers  by 
exercising  them  on  shore.  They  seated  them  on 
the  beach  in  the  same  arrangement  and  order 
they  occupied  on  the  benches  of  the  vessel, 
and  placed  in  the  midst  of  them  a  commanding 
officer,  who  trained  them  to  lean  backward  and 
pull  their  oars  simultaneously,  to  bend  forward 
together,  and  to  cease  rowing  instantaneously  at 
a  given  signal.  Remarkable  precision  was  thus 
reached. 

The  oar  of  the  Egyptians,  a  writer  on  such 
matters  tells  us,  was  a  long,  round  wooden  shaft 
to  which  a  flat  board  of  oval  or  circular  form 
was  fastened.  The  oar  turned  either  on  a  toll 
pin  or  in  a  ring  fastened  to  the  gunwale,  and 
the  rowers  sat  on  the  deck  on  benches  or  on 
low  seats,  or  stood  or  knelt  to  the  oar,  some- 
times pushing  it  forward,  but  more  generally 
pulling  it. 

Those  who  manned  the  oars  of  the  galleys 
both  in  ancient  and  medieval  times  were,  as 
a  rule,  condemned  persons,  slaves  and  male- 
factors. The  rower  was  chained  to  the  bench  on 
which  he  sat.  It  has  been  supposed  that  the 
force  of  men  on  each  oar  must  have  varied  with 
its  size,  which  was  regulated  by  the  distance 
from  the  water.  In  bad  weather  the  lower  oars 
were  undoubtedly  taken  in  and  their  ports 
closed.  The  human  voice,  and  oftentimes  the 
trumpet,  was  used  to  secure  the  rhythm  or  har- 
mony of  action  so  necessary  among  the  oars- 
men. Cries  were  adopted  appropriate  to  each 

32    Vol.  11 


498 


ANCIENT,   MEDIEVAL  AND 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE.          499 

maneuver  of  the  vessel.  The  Greeks,  in  many 
cases,  regulated  the  movement  of  their  oars  by 
singing  or  music  of  the  flute  or  harp. 


Thus  while  we  have  been  able  to  trace  the 
progress  of  transportation  in  the  past,  it  is  im- 
possible to  foretell  its  future.  But  the  experi- 
ence of  the  last  fifty  years  leads  us  to  expect  a 

great  deal.  Continued 
improvement  is,  how- 
ever, dependent  upon 
many  things,  above  all 
upon  the  security  af- 
- — -  forded.  And  this  is 
only  to  be  attained  un- 
der a  strong  and  enlightened  government  that 
protects  the  individual  as  well  as  the  commu- 
nity; that  encourages  the  citizen  to  accumulate 
property,  and  having 
accumulated  it,  pro- 
tects him  in  its  en- 
joyment and  use. 

As  I  have  pointed 
out  elsewhere  the  an- 
cients were,  in  their 

religious  beliefs,  in  the  habit  of  applying  the 
known  to  the  unknown.  Thus  they  believed 
that  the  clouds,  the  trees,  streams,  rocks,  moun- 
tains, hills,  in  fact  every  material  thing,  had  the 
same  consciousness,  the  same  sensibility  that 
man  had.  They  believed  that  mankind  sprung 


500 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND 


from  the  trees  and  rocks.  Every  evil  that  af- 
flicted them  they  traced  to  malevolent  demons. 
These  they  strove  to  propitiate  by  prayers  and 
offerings.  The  belief  in  good  spirits  grew  up 
later.  The  mythology  of  races  differed,  although 
each  borrowed  more  or  less  from  the  other.  The 
Greeks'  conception  of  the  gods  was  especially 
poetic.  They  believed,  however,  that  these  dei- 
ties had  the  same  passions  that  man  possessed; 
the  same  jealousy,  love  of  strife,  intrigue  and 
power.  In  fixing  the  abode  of  the  gods  their 
imagination  ran  riot.  They  located  them  in  the 
clouds,  in  the  tops  of  great  mountains  like  Olym- 
pia  and  Mount  Ida,  in  lonely  caves  and  the 
caverns  of  the  deep  sea.  When  the  gods  had 
occasion  to  travel  abroad,  their  vehicles  were 
such  as  the  ancients  themselves  used,  but  instead 
of  oxen  and  donkeys  for  steeds  they  used  tigers, 
doves,  swans,  griffins,  and  so  on.  Among  "the 
childish  delusions  of  the  ancients,  they  also 
believed  vehicles  were  necessary  to.  the  move- 
ments of  the  planets. 


M  YTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE. 


501 


502 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND 


An  Assyrian  chariot 


In  this  picture  the  Assyrian  king  stands  with  his  bow  strung,  the  charioteer 
and  the  guard  holding  a  shield  as  a  defense. 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CA2iRIA(,h. 


503 


A  primitive  vehicle  pictured  on  the  walls  of  the  ancient  temple  of  Luxor 
in  the  ruins  of  Thebes,  B.  C.  1300.  It  undoubtedly  illustrates  the  conception  of 
a  much  earlier  period. 


Elamites  fleeing  from  the  Assyrians,  B.  C.  630.    The  wheels  were  high  and 
contained  twelve  spokes,  while  Assyrian  chariots  had  but  eight. 


An  Egyptian  chariot,  supposed  to  belong  to  the  Ptolemaic  age,  B.  C.  300.    It 
was  built  of  birch  and  iron,  the  floor  being  made  of  woven  rushes  or  flags. 


504 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND 


Ancient  Egyptian  hearse  drawn  by  sacred  cattle. 


A  racing  chariot  of  ancient  Greece.  Chariot  races  were  the  most  popular 
of  Grecian  games,  and  occupied  the  attention  of  all  classes.  The  chariots 
were  drawn  either  by  two  or  four  horses  abreast.  The  position  of  the  chariots 
in  the  race  was  determined  by  lot,  and  after  a  certain  number  of  times  around 
the  circus  he  whose  chariot  came  in  first  on  the  last  round  was  proclaimed 
victor.  Enormous  sums  were  spent  to  secure  superior  horses  and  accessories 
for  these  races. 


A  Roman  wine  cart.  A  basket  was  placed  on  the  platform  of  the  wagon 
between  the  wheels.  Skins  filled  with  wine  were  placed  within,  so  that  in  the 
event  they  burst,  the  basket,  being  tight,  would  prevent  the  liquid  escaping. 
Bags  were  used  in  the  carriage  of  wine  and  olive  oil  and  were  made  of  goat 
skins,  with  the  hair  turned  inside. 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE. 


505 


Car  of  Chinese  royalty  in  the  eleventh  century.    Vehicles  having  four  wheels 
were  also  sometimes  used  on  state  occasions. 


An  Italian  cochio,  or  vehicle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  NThe  women  sat  in  the 
front  of  the  carriage  and  the  men  in  the  rear. 


506 


ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL   AND 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE. 


507 


508  ANCIENT,  MEDIEVAL  AND 


An  early  English  ship  of  quaint  build. 


A  Norse  ship  of  the  ninth  century. 


MYTHOLOGICAL  FORMS  OF  CARRIAGE.          509 


PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF   STEAM  TO 

ENGINES,  ROAD  WAGONS  AND 

LOCOMOTIVES. 

The  ancients  seemed  to  have  been  imbued  with 
a  conception  of  the  value  of  steam  as  a  motive 
power.  Thus,  in  the  city  founded  by  Alexander 
the  Great,  Hero  is  said  to  have  demonstrated  its 
power  about  B.  C.  130.  He  wrote  a  treatise  on 
the  subject  explaining  its  force  and  how  it  might 
be  utilized  by  the  use  of  cylinders,  pistons,  valves, 

etc.  Hero's  ad- 
vanced idea  pre- 
supposes prior 
investigation,  or 
at  least  discus- 
sion, in  regard  to 
the  value  and 
utility  of  steam; 
but  we  have  no 
authoritative 
knowledge  on  tne  subject.  Hero's  device  was 
followed  from  time  to  time  by  others  more  or 
less  advanced  in  thought,  but  still  lacking  essen- 
tial practical  features  necessary  to  their  use  in 
every  day  life.  Thus,  we  have  an  account  of  an 
engine  constructed  as  far  back  as  1629. 

Coming  down  to  the  eighteenth  century,  it  is 
said  that  a  Doctor  Robinson  suggested,  in  1759, 

(510) 


PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM.  511 

that  steam  might  be  utilized  for  propelling 
wagons  or  carriages  upon  the  public  highways. 
Following  out  his  idea,  models  were  made  by 
James  Watt.  In  1769  and  1771  other  machines 
having  the  same  object  in  view  were  constructed. 
These  were  followed  by  the  construction,  in  dif- 
ferent workshops,  of  many  other  machines,  of 
different  patterns,  designed  for  similar  use. 
Defects  in  theory  and  application,  coupled  with 
excessive  cost  of  operation  and  the  poor  roads 
of  the  country,  prevented  any  of  these  engines 
being  of  practical  use. 


However,  in  1803,  a  great  and  all  important 
discovery  was  made  when  Trevithick  invented 
the  locomotive  and  had  one  built  for  use  on 
the  railroad,  or  tramway,  of  the  time.  It  was 
successful  in  every  respect  except  that  of  cost 
of  operation.  In  this  respect  it  was  found  to 
be  more  expensive  than  horse  power  and  was, 
accordingly;  not  given  extended  use.  This  was, 
however,  a  mere  detail.  The  objection  of  exces- 
sive cost  of  operation  was  overcome  in  1811  by 
John  Blenkinsop,  who  constructed  two  locomo- 
tives for  use  in  the  Middleton  Colliery,  of  which 
he  was  the  proprietor.  Following  these  ven- 
tures, George  Stephenson,  in  1814,  put  into  oper- 
ation his  first  locomotive,  the  "Blucher."  Thus, 


512  PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM. 

this  great  man,  who  is  reputed  to  be  the  father 
of  the  locomotive,  really  first  carried  out  an  idea 
discovered  eleven  years  before  and  put  into  suc- 
cessful operation  two  years  prior  to  the  launching 
of  his  machine. 

Parallel  with  the  developments  we  have 
described,  investigations  were  being  carried  on 
looking  to  the  utilization  of  steam  in  connection 
with  the  propelling  of  vessels  on  the  water. 
These  ideas  finally  took  shape  in  the  launching 
of  the  "  Charlotte  Dundas,"  by  William  Symming- 
ton,  in  1801,  and  in  the  successful  operation  of 

Robert    Fulton's 
steamboat  in  1807. 

Thus  were  intro- 
duced the  modern 
forms  of  carriage  in 
contra-distinction  to 

An  early  railway  carriage.  the     primitive     foriis 

before  existing. 

In  reference  to  one  of  these  forms,,  the  loco- 
motive, its  evolution  since  Trevithick's  time  is 
interesting  and  instructive.  It  is  only  when  we 
compare  the  first  locomotive  and  its  simple 
appliances  with  the  gigantic  machine  of  to-day 
and  its  myriad  fixtures,  that  we  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  progress  that  has  been  made.  To  most  of 
us  all  locomotives  are  alike.  They  pull  their 
load  amidst  much  puffing  of  smoke  and  noisy 
ringing  of  bells,  and  that  is  all  we  know. 
Important  distinctions,  such  as  weight,  relative 
consumption  of  fuel,  speed,  load,  facility  in 


PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM.  513 

making  steam,  wear  and  tear,  and  other  import- 
ant considerations,  we  know  nothing  about.  The 
accompanying  pictures  are  intended  simply  to 
point  out  some  primitive  types.  They  are  quaint 
and  old-fashioned  to  us;  but  to  those  who  used 
them,  they  represented  all  that  was  worth  know- 
ing, or  likely  ever  to  be  known. 

The  evolution  of  locomotives  has  been  attended 
by  improvements  in  cars,  track  and  other  appli- 
ances, but  not  to  the  same  extent,  because  less 
opportunity  is  offered.  The  locomotive  is  the 
key,  the  central  idea,  the  fulcrum  around  which 
all  other  thoughts  cluster.  The  use  of  steam,  in 
its  early  application,  was  confined  to  moving  the 
locomotive  back  and  forth.  To-day,  it  is  utilized 
to  warm  the  cars,  apply  the  brakes,  heat  the 
water  before  it  is  introduced  into  the  boiler, 
pump  water,  ring  the  bell  and  do  many  other 
things.  Further  advances  will  undoubtedly  be 
made.  No  two  locomotives  are  alike,  any  more 
than  two  faces  are  exactly  alike.  Even  when 
the  same  pattern  is  used,  differences,  the  result 
of  contraction  and  expansion  or  other  unavoid- 
able details  of  construction,  affect,  radically,  the 
economy  of  the  machines.  While  great  progress 
has  been  made  in  railway  carriage,  much  remains 
to  be  done.  Trevithick  unloosed  the  genius  of 
invention.  It  will  not  cease  to  manifest  itself 
so  long  as  men  are  able  to  apply  their  ideas 
in  experimental  effort.  Every  day  sees  some 
advance  in  railway  construction  and  manage- 
ment, the  outgrowth  of  added  knowledge  and 

33    Vol.  11 


514 


PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM. 


increased  means.  It  is  manifest  in  higher  speed, 
greater  safety,  better  appliances,  and,  quite  as 
important,  in  a  more  scientific  division  of  labor 
and  increased  responsibility  upon  the  part  of 
owners,  officers  and  employes.  Competition  and 
the  enlightened  selfishness  of  the  owners  of  rail- 
roads will  finally  carry  these  properties  to  the 
highest  state  of  usefulness  if  these  influences  are 
allowed  to  have  full  play. 


A  railway  track  of  the  17th  century. 


PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM.  515 


Newton's  steam  carriage.    1680. 


Cugnot's  three-wheeled  steam  carriage.    1769. 


Read's  steam  carriage.    1794. 


516 


PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM. 


One  of  Trevi  thick's  early  locomotives. 


Blenkinsop's  rack-rail  locomotive.    1813. 


Bancroft 

PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM.  517 


A  train  on  the  Wylane  &  Lamlngton  railway  In  1812. 


A.  train  on  the  Middleton  «fc  Leeds  railway,  and  Kenton  <k  Pawdown  Colliery 
railway.    1812-13. 


518  PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM. 


The  "  Mechanical  Traveler  "  or  "  horse-leg  "  locomotive.    1813. 


Stephenson's  "  Blucher."  1814.  This  Is  said  to  have  been  the  first  Joco 
motive  built  by  George  Stephenson.  Every  part  of  it  being  made  by  hand  and 
hammered  into  shape. 


Goods  wagon.    1830.    Liverpool  &  Manchester  railway. 


PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM.  519 


Inside  passenger  carriage,  Liverpool  &  Manchester  railway.    1830. 


First-  and  second-class  carriage,  England.    1835. 


Third-class  carriage.  England.    1840. 


520  PRIMITIVE  APPLICATION  OF  STEAM. 


James'  steam  carriage  for  highways.    1832. 


Church's  steam  locomotive  for  highways.    1832. 


MOTOR  VEHICLE  OR  HORSELESS  WAGON.       521 


MOTOR  VEHICLE  OR  HORSELESS  WAGON. 

The  above  illustration  represents  the  modern  Motor  or  Horseless  Vehicle 
The  oil  and  water  tanks  with  which  it  is  supplied  are  placed  under  the  seat. 
This  vehicle  has  a  power  motor  equal  to  four  horses,  the  propelling  force 
being  furnished  by  petroleum.  The  style  of  motor  vehicles  varies,  according 
to  the  ingenuity  of  the  builder  or  the  end  sought  to  be  achieved;  in  some  cases 
it  is  a  coach ;  in  others  a  carriage,  buggy  or  wagon.  The  propelling  machinery 
may  be  attached  to  any  kind  of  vehicle.  In  some  instances  the  vehicle  has 
three  wheels,  one  in  front  and  two  behind ;  in  other  cases  four,  as  in  this 
instance.  The  wheels  of  the  vehicle  depicted  above  have  pneumatic  tires  and 
roller  bearings.  The  oil  supply  tank  carries  sufficient  oil  to  travel  on  an 
average  one  hundred  and  ten  miles.  The  rate  of  speed  ranges  from  three  to 
twenty  miles  per  hour.  The  pipes  crossing  and  re-crossing  in  front  of  the 
dash  board  are  used  for  cooling  the  water  of  the  cylinders.  The  balance  of 
the  machinery  is  located  between  the  axles  under  the  body  of  the  wagon,  as 
shown  in  the  illustration  which  follows  on  the  next  page,  depicting  the 
mechanism  of  the  vehicle  in  detail.  There  are  many  types  of  motors.  The 
force  in  some  cases  is  electricity;  in  others  gas,  oil,  etc.  The  application  of 
the  motor  to  the  common  highway  cannot  be  said  to  satisfactorily  take  the 
place  of  horses.  There  are  many  reasons  for  this,  among  others  facility  of 
movement,  cost,  weight,  method  of  control,  condition  of  the  roads,  etc. 
Its  advocates,  however,  claim  that  with  time  every  defect  incident  to  it  will  be 
overcome,  including  that  of  poor  roads. 


522       MOTOR  VEHICLE  OR  HORSELESS  WAGON. 


Modern  Motor  Vehicle  or  Horseless  Wagon.  See  explanation  underneath 
the  illustration  preceding  this.  However,  the  machinery  of  different  makers 
or  patterns  differs  as  in  the  case  of  locomotives,  etc. 


CULMINATION  OF  CARRIAGE. 


523 


INDEX. 

This  volume  is  carefully  Indexed,  but  for  the 
convenience  of  the  reader  and  to  render  the  book 
easier  to  handle,  the  Index  is  included  (with  a 
full  Index  of  the  whole  work)  in  volume  Twelve 
under  the  title  "GENERAL  INDEX."  This 
"GENERAL  INDEX"  is  also,  in  a  measure,  an 
Encyclopedia  of  Railway  Knowledge. 

In  all  previous  editions  of  the  work  each  vol- 
ume contained  an  Index,  but  as  this  was  already 
embraced  in  the  Twelfth  Volume,  it  has  been 
determined  to  change  it  in  this  edition  (as  indi- 
cated above)  thus  reducing  the  bulk  of  each  vol- 
ume, and  making  it  more  convenient  for  the 
reader  to  handle. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  RAILWAYS. 

IN  TWELVE  VOLUMES. 

BY  MAKSHALL  M.  KIKKMAN. 

REVISED    AND    ENLARGED    EDITION. 


"THE  SCIENCE  OF  KAIL  WAYS"  DESCRIBES  THE  METHODS 

AND  PRINCIPLES   CONNECTED  WITH  THE  EQUIPMENT, 

SHOPS,  ORGANIZATION,  LOCATION,  CAPITALIZATION, 

CONSTRUCTION,  MAINTENANCE,  OPERATION 

AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF  EAILROADS. 


This  great  work  is  everywhere  commended  for  its 
thoroughness,  vast  research  and  impartial  represen- 
tation. While  it  treats  of  specific  things,  it  does  not 
reflect  the  methods  of  any  particular  property  or  country. 
A  treasury  of  research  and  practical  experience,  it  por- 
trays truly  and  vividly  the  principles  and  practices  of 
the  great  art  of  transportation  in  their  highest  and  best 
forms.  It  is  popular  in  every  place  where  railroading 
has  reached  its  highest  development,  and  the  endorse- 
ment it  has  received  from  railway  men  of  the  highest 
attainments  is  conclusive  evidence  of  its  value  and  trust- 
worthiness. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  WORLD  RAILWAY  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


ORIGIN  AND  EVOLUTION  OF 
TRANSPORTATION." 


BY 

MARSHALL  M.  KIRKMAN. 


[NOTE.— The  first  chapter  In  this  volume  on  the  "  Evolution  of  Man,"  has 
been  incorporated  since  the  commendatory  notices  of  the  distinguished  men 
and  women  named  below,  were  written.  Originally  the  volume  embraced  only 
the  chapters  on  the  Ancients,  and  the  pictures  that  accompanied  the  same.] 


"For  originality  of  design  and  thorough  treatment  of  its  subject,  it  IB 
unique  among  books.  Disraeli  would  have  enshrined  H  among  his  'Curi- 
osities of  Literature'  as  a  stroke  of  genius."— Right  Reverend  WILLIAM  E. 
MCLAREN,  D.  D.,  D.  C.  L.,  Bishop  of  Chicago. 

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are  most  instructive  as  well  as  curious.  Every  great  school,  and  every  college 
in  the  world,  should  possess  a  book  so  peculiar  and  the  result  of  so  much 
research."— Right  Reverend  A.  CLEVELAND  Cox,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  late  Bishop  of 
Western  New  York. 

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eral, Commanding  United  States  Army. 

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"  Mr.  K  i  rk man's  researches  have  taken  him  into  every  quarter  of  the  globe, 
and  among  every  race  of  man.  The  illustrations  depict  every  known  method 
of  carriage,  .  .  .  besides  pictures  of  ancients,  medieval  and  mythological 
means  of  carriage.  .  .  .  The  value  of  this  vast  collection  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  explanations  and  the  dates  that  are  affixed  to  most  of  the 
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Mr.  Kirkman  is  a  railroad  man  of  great  ability,  but  he  is  more,  and  that  is  a 
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humanity.  Mr.  Kirkman  is  a  distinguished  railroad  man,  and  thus  he  came 
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valuable  contribution  to  literature."— HENRY  WADE  ROGERS,  LL.D.,  President 
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"A  magnificent  volume,  .  .  .  most  interesting  and  admirable.  It  is  an 
illustrated  study  of  the  means  of  travel  and  transportation  in  every  country 
in  the  world  that  has  any;  and  from  the  most  primitive  times  down  to  the 
present  The  profusion  of  illustrations  and  their  beauty  render  the  work  a 
mine  of  instructive  enjoyment,  and  I  find  it  interests  all  who  see  it."— JENNY 
CUNNINGHAM  CROLY. 

"  Artistic  and  valuable,  and,  despite  all  traditionary  statements  to  the  con- 
trary, something  new  under  the  sun."— ELIZABETH  BOYNTON  HARBERT. 

"Exceedingly  beautiful,  and  worthy  of  all  the  best  words  that  can  be  said 
in  its  behalf."— MARY  LOWE  DICKINSON. 


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